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MARTIN    LUTHER 


GUSTAV  FREYTAG 


TRANSLATED  BY 


HENRY    E.   O.   HEINEMANN 


des  christen  herz  auf  rosen  geht, 
wenn's  mitten  LNTERM  KREUZE  STEHT. 

— luther's  motto. 


CHICAGO 
THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING   COMPANY 

(London:  17  Johnson's  Court,  F^leel  St.,  E.  C.) 
1897 


TRANSLATION   COPYRIGHTED  BY 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  CO. 


The  arrangement  of  the  material  together  with  the  selection  of  the  illustrations 
and  the  division  into  chapters  has  been  made  by  the  Open  Court  Publishing  Co. 


ocl'ghO.'iHhl 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

The  Reformer i 

Luther's  Father         5 

The  Spirit  of  the  Age 8 

The  Traffic  in  Indulgences 13 

Luther  the  Monk 24 

The  Rupture  with  the  Church 28 

The  Conflict 33 

Battles  Within  and  Battles  Without 40 

Accepting  the  Summons 45 

The  Diet  of  Worms 50 

The  Hero  of  the  Nation 60 

The  Outlaw  of  the  Wartburg 6g 

A  Contemporary's  Description  of  Luther 74 

Problems  and  Tasks 83 

Political  and  Social  Complications 92 

Luther's  Marriage 97 

Luther's  Private  Life 104 

Struggles  with  the  Devil 113 

The  Tragic  Element  in  Luther's  Life        117 

A  Letter  of  Luther  to  the  Prince-Elector  of  Saxony    .      .      .      .123 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


BETWEEN  PAGES 


Frontispiece.    Martinus  Luther.   (After  Lucas  Cranach.) 
Title-page.    Luther's  Coat  of  Arms,  being  a  cross  upon 

a  rose,  ilhistrating  Luther's  motto. 
Luther  as  a  Chorister  in  the  House  of  Frau  Cotta    .      .        6  and    7 
Fac-simile  of  an  Indulgence.    (From  Kostlin.)     .      .      .      12     "     13 
The  Pope  Selling  Indulgences.   (Hans  Holbein's  wood- 
cut.)              16    "     17 

Trade   in    Pardons.      (Title   picture  of   a  pamphlet    by 

Hans  Schwalb,  published  in  1521.) 16     "     17 

Tetzel.      (Reproduced  from  Castelar's  "La  revolucion 

religiosa.") 20     "     21 

Luther  Entering  the  Monastery.  (After  Gustav  Konig.)  24  "  25 
Luther    as    a    Monk.      (After    the    woodcut    of    Lucas 

Cranach.)  .      , 26     "     27 

Nailing  the  Theses  to  the  Church  door.      (Reproduced 

from  Castelar's  "  La  revolucion  religiosa.")        .      .      28    •'     29 
Luther   Lecturing   at    the   University.      (After   Gustav 

Konig.)        30    "     31 

Philip  Melanchthon 32     "     33 

Pope  Leo  X 34    "     35 

Erasmus         36    "    37 

Burning  the  Papal  Bull.  (After  Lessing.  j  .  .  .  .  44.  "  45 
Luther's  Entrance  into  Worms.  (After  Spangenberg.)  48  '■  49 
Ready  to  Face  the  Diet.  (After  Gustav  Konig.)  .  .  50  "  51 
Before  the  Diet  of  Worms.      (After  Werner.)        .      .      .      52     "     53 


VI  MARTIN  LUTHER. 


BETWEEN  PAGES 


Frederick  the  Wise,  Prince-Elector  of  Saxony.      (After 

Albrecht  Diirer.) 56    "     57 

The  Wartburg   in   the   Sixteenth  Century.      (Woodcut 

by  H.  W.  Miiller.)         68    "     69 

The  Outlaw  of  the  Wartburg 72     "     73 

Luther    as  Younker    George.      (After   the   woodcut    of 

Lucas  Cranach) 76    "     77 

Luther's  Wife.      (After  Lucas  Cranach.) 96    "    97 

Luther  Praying  for  Melanchthon's  Life.     (After  Gustav 

Konig.) 104    "  105 

Luther  at  the  Coffin  of  his  Daughter  Magdalen.    (After 

Gustav  Konig.) 106    "  107 

Luther  in  the  Bosom  of  his  Family.      (After  Spangen- 

berg.) 108    "  109 

The  Age  of  the  Reformation.  (After  Kaulbach.)  .  .  122  "  123 
Luther's    Handwriting.      (Psalm    34.)      [A   manuscript 

page  of  his  Bible  translation,  now  in  the  Library 

at  Berlin.]        124    "  125 


THE  REFORMER. 


MANY  well-meaning  men  still  cherisli  regret  tliat  cer- 
tain great  evils  of  their  old  churcli  led  to  the  great 
schism  of  the  Reformation.  Even  the  enlightened  Catholic 
still  looks  upon  Luther  and  Zwingli  simply  as  zealous  here- 
tics whose  wrath  caused  ecclesiastical  dissensions.  Such 
a  view  should  be  abandoned.  All  Christian  denominations 
have  good  reason  to  be  grateful  to  Luther,  for  to  him  they 
owe  a  purified  faith  which  satisfies  the  heart  and  soul 
and  enriches  their  lives.  The  heretic  of  Wittenberg  is  a 
reformer  for  the  Catholic  quite  as  much  as  for  the  Protes- 
tant. Not  only  because  in  the  struggle  with  him  the  teach- 
ers of  the  Catholic  Church  outgrew  their  ancient  scholas- 
ticism and  fought  for  their  sacraments  with  new  weapons 
taken  from  his  language,  culture,  and  moral  worth;  nor 
only  for  the  reason  that  he  had  shattered  into  fragments 
the  church  of  the  middle  ages,  and  compelled  his  enemies 
in  the  Council  of  Trent  to  erect  an  apparently  new  and 
more  solid  structure  within  the  old  forms  and  dimensions  ; 
but  still  more  because  he  gave  such  powerful  expression  to 
the  common  foundation  of  all  Christian  creeds,  to  human 
bravery,  piety,  sincerity  and  heartiness,  that  in  religion 
and  language,  in  civil  order  and  moralit}^,  in  the  bent  of 


2  MARTIN  LUTHiiR. 

the  popular  soul,  in  science  and  poetry,  a  great  deal  of 
his  nature  is  even  now  immanent  in  us  and  shared  by  all 
Teutonic  races  to-day.  Some  of  those  things  which  in  his 
stubborn  fights  Luther  defended  against  both  reformed 
and  Catholics,  have  been  condemned  by  the  freer  intelli- 
gence of  the  present  age.  His  doctrine,  wrung  from  a  pas- 
sionate, high-strung,  reverential  soul  in  convulsive  strug- 
gles, failed,  in  some  not  unimportant  particulars,  to  hit 
the  right  point;  at  times  he  was  harsh,  unjust,  even  cruel 
towards  his  adversaries  ;  but  such  things  should  no  longer 
perplex  us,  for  all  the  limitations  of  his  nature  and  cul- 
ture are  overwhelmed  by  the  wealth  of  bliss  which  flowed 
from  his  great  heart  into  the  life  of  mankind. 

Nevertheless,  we  are  told,  he  should  not  have  fallen 
away  from  the  church ;  his  act  divided  Christendom  into 
two  camps,  and,  with  varying  battle  cries,  the  old  quarrel 
lasts  down  into  our  owm  days.  Those  who  think  thus  may 
assert  with  equal  justice  that  the  holy,  mystical  apostas}^ 
from  Judaism  was  not  necessary ;  why  did  not  the  Apos- 
tles reform  the  venerable  high-priesthood  of  Zion?  They 
may  maintain  that  the  Englishman  Hampden  would  have 
done  better  to  pay  the  ship-money  and  instruct  the  Stu- 
arts peaceably ;  that  the  Prince  of  Orange  committed  a 
crime  when  he  refused  to  lay  his  head  and  sword,  like 
Egmont,  into  the  hands  of  Alva;  that  Washington  was  a 
traitor  because  he  did  not  surrender  himself  and  his  army 
to  the  English.  They  may  condemn  as  a  crime  ever3-thing 
great  and  new  in  thought  and  life  that  ever  broke  forth  in 
the  struggle  against  the  old. 

To  few  mortals  was  it  given  to  exercise  so  great  an 
influence  upon  both  their  contemporaries  and  posterit^^ 


THE  REFORMER.  3 

But,  like  every  great  human  life,  that  of  Luther  impresses 
the  beholder  like  an  overwhelming  tragedy  if  the  chief 
points  of  it  are  placed  side  by  side.  It  appears  tripartite, 
like  the  careers  of  all  heroes  of  history  who  w^ere  permit- 
ted to  reach  the  fulness  of  their  lives.  In  the  beginning, 
the  personality  of  the  man  is  unfolding,  and  we  see  him 
powerfully  controlled  by  the  forces  of  his  environments. 
Even  incompatible  opposites  are  sought  to  be  assimilated, 
but  in  the  inmost  core  of  his  nature,  thoughts  and  convic- 
tions gradually  harden  into  resolution ;  a  sudden  deed 
flashes  forth,  the  individual  enters  on  the  struggle  with 
the  world.  Then  follows  another  period  of  vigorous  ac- 
tivity, rapid  development,  great  conquests.  The  influence 
of  the  one  upon  the  many  extends  more  and  more,  his 
might  draws  the  nation  into  his  course,  he  becomes  her 
hero,  her  standard,  and  the  vitality  of  millions  appears 
concentrated  in  one  man.  But  the  spirit  of  a  nation  will 
not,  for  any  length  of  time,  tolerate  the  exclusive  control 
of  one  single  individual.  However  great  the  force,  how- 
ever loft}^  the  aims,  the  life,  the  power,  and  the  wants  of 
the  nation  are  more  manifold.  The  everlasting  conflict  be- 
tween the  man  and  the  people  appears.  The  soul  even  of 
the  people  is  finite,  and,  in  the  sight  of  the  infinite,  a  lim- 
ited personality,  but  as  compared  to  the  individual  it  ap- 
pears boundless.  The  man  is  compelled  by  the  logical 
sequence  of  his  thoughts  and  actions,  all  the  spirits  of  his 
own  deeds  force  him  into  a  rigidly  confined  course.  The 
soul  of  the  nation,  however,  requires  for  its  life  incompat- 
ible opposites  and  a  ceaseless  working  in  the  most  diver- 
gent directions.  IMany  things  which  the  individual  could 
not  receive  within  his  own  nature  arise  to  do  battle  against 


4  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

him.  The  reaction  of  the  world  sets  in — feebly  at  first, 
from  various  sides,  in  different  lines  of  thought,  with  lit- 
tle justice,  then  more  strongly  and  with  ever-growing  suc- 
cess. At  last,  the  spiritual  kernel  of  the  individual  life  is 
confined  within  a  school — his  school ;  it  is  crystallised  into 
a  particular  element  of  the  culture  of  the  nation.  Ever  is 
the  closing  part  of  a  great  life  filled  with  secret  resigna- 
tion, bitterness,  and  silent  suffering. 

Thus  with  Luther.  The  first  of  these  periods  ex- 
tended down  to  the  day  when  he  published  the  theses,  the 
second  to  his  return  from  the  Wartburg,  the  third  to  his 
death  and  the  beginning  of  the  Smalkald  war. 

The  author  of  these  pages  does  not  intend  to  describe 
Luther's  life,  but  only  to  tell  briefly  how  he  grew  and 
what  he  was.  Many  things  about  him  appear  strange  and 
uncouth,  when  viewed  at  a  distance,  but  his  picture  has 
the  remarkable  quality  of  becoming  bigger  and  more  lov- 
,  able  the  closer  it  is  approached.  And  it  would,  from  be- 
ginning to  end,  fill  a  good  biographer  with  admiration, 
sympathy,  and  also  some  good  humor. 


LUTHER'S   FATHER. 


LUTHER  rose  from  the  great  fountain  of  all  national 
strength,  the  free  peasantry.  From  Moehra,  a 
village  in  the  mountain  forests  of  Thuringia,  where  his 
relations  filled  half  the  surrounding  country,  his  father 
moved  northward  into  the  Mansfeld  region  to  engage  in 
mining. 

His  father,  Hans  Luther,  was  short  of  stature,  solid 
and  strong,  resolute  and  gifted  with  an  unusual  amount 
of  common  sense,  and  had,  after  a  hard  struggle,  acquired 
a  fair  competency.  He  ruled  strictly  in  his  house.  Even 
late  in  life  Luther  remembered  ruefully  the  severe  punish- 
ments he  suffered  as  a  boy,  and  the  pain  they  inflicted  on 
his  tender  child's  heart. 

Old  Hans  Luther  maintained  some  influence  over  the 
life  of  his  son  down  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1530.  When, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years,  Martin  secretly  entered  a 
monastery,  the  old  man's  anger  was  violent,  for  he  had 
thought  of  providing  for  his  son  by  a  good  marriage.  And 
when,  at  last,  friends  succeeded  in  reconciling  the  irate 
father,  when  he  confronted  his  son,  who  pleaded  that  a 
terrible  apparition  had  compelled  him  to  the  secret  vow  to 
enter  a  monastery,  the  father  broke  out  into  the  petulant 


6  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

words :  "May  God  grant,  that  it  was  not  a  cheat  or  a  spec- 
tre sent  by  the  Devil." 

He  still  further  tore  the  heart  of  the  monk  by  the  an- 
gry question :  "You  thought  to  obey  the  bidding  of  God 
when  you  took  orders,  did  you  not  also  hear  that  children 
should  obey  their  parents?"  The  sting  of  the  words  ran- 
kled deeply  in  the  heart  of  the  son.  And  many  years  later, 
when  he  lived  on  the  Wartburg,  expelled  from  the  church, 
outlawed  by  the  Emperor,  he  wrote  to  his  father  the  pa- 
thetic words:  "Do  you  still  wish  to  take  me  from  the 
monkish  life?  You  are  still  my  father;  I  am  still  your 
son ;  on  3'our  side  is  the  divine  commandment  and  the 
power,  on  mine  is  human  wrong-doing.  And  lo,  that  you 
might  not  boast  before  God  He  anticipated  you,  He  took 
me  out  Himself!"  From  that  time,  the  old  man  felt  as  if 
his  son  had  been  given  back  to  him.  Old  Hans  at  one 
time  calculated  on  a  grandson  for  whom  he  wanted  to 
work.  He  reverted  to  that  idea  stubbornly,  disregarding 
the  rest  of  the  world.  Before  long  he  urged  his  son  to 
marry,  and  his  persuasion  was  not  the  least  powerful  in- 
fluence to  which  Luther  yielded.  And  when  the  father, 
having  reached  a  ripe  old  age  and  the  honor  of  a  council- 
man of  Alansfeld,  was  l^'ing  on  his  death-bed  and  the 
minister,  bending  over  the  man  who  was  passing  awa}^, 
asked  if  he  would  die  in  the  purified  faith  on  Christ  and 
the  H0I3'  Gospel,  old  Hans  gathered  his  strength  for  the 
last  time  and  said,  curtly:  "A  scoundrel  who  does  not 
believe  in  it!"  Luther,  in  telling  about  it  in  later  \'ears, 
was  wont  to  add  adniiringiy  :  "  He  was  a  man  of  the  good 
old  time." 

The  son  received  the  news  of  his  father's  death  in  the 


LUTHER  AS  A  CHORISTER  IX  THE  HOUSE  OF  FRAU  COTTA. 


LUTHER'S  FATHER.  7 

fortress  of  Coburg.  Gazing  at  tlie  letter  in  whicli  liis  wife 
had  enclosed  the  picture  of  his  youngest  daughter,  Mag- 
dalen, he  spoke  to  his  companions  only  the  brief  words : 
''Well,  my  father  is  dead,  too,"  then  rising  and  taking 
his  psalter,  he  went  to  his  chamber  .and  prayed  and  wept 
so  hard  that,  as  the  faithful  Veit  Dietrich  reports,  his  head 
was  dull  the  next  day — but  he  came  forth  with  his  mind 
composed.  The  same  day  he  wrote  to  Melanchthon  with 
much  emotion  about  the  cordial  affection  of  the  father  and 
his  intimate  intercourse  with  him .  ' '  Never  have  I  despised 
death  so  much  as  to-day.  So  many  times  do  we  die  before 
we  finally  die.  Now  I  am  the  oldest  of  my  race  and  I  have 
a  right  to  follow  him." 

From  such  a  father  the  son  received  for  his  life  those 
qualities  which  remained  the  foundation  of  his  nature — 
truthfulness,  persevering  will,  a  sincere  confidence  in,  and 
prudent  treatment  of,  men  and  affairs.  Rough  was  his  in- 
fancy, much  that  was  harsh  did  he  experience  in  the  Latin 
school  and  as  a  chorister,  but  he  also  met  with  kindness 
and  love,  especially  in  the  house  of  Frau  Cotta.  And  Lu- 
ther retained  that  which  is  more  easily  preserved  in  the 
smaller  circles  of  life,  a  heart  full  of  faith  in  the  goodness 
of  human  nature  and  of  reverence  for  all^that  is  great  on 
this  earth.  At  the  University  of  Brfurt  his  father  was  able 
to  assist  him  more  liberally ;  he  felt  the  vigor  of  youth  and 
was  a  merry  companion  with  harp  and  song. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  AGE. 


THE  corruption  of  the  world  had  waxed  huge,  the  op- 
pression of  the  poor  was  beyond  endurance,  gross 
sensuality  held  sway,  clergy  and  laity  were  dominated  by 
insatiable  greed.  Who  would  punish  the  young  squire  for 
ill-treating  the  peasant?  Who  protect  the  poor  citizen 
against  the  powerful  family  of  the  rich  councilman  ?  Hard 
was  the  toil  of  the  man  of  the  people  from  morning 
till  night,  through  M^nter  and  summer.  There  was  the 
plague,  failure  of  crops,  and  famine.  Inscrutable  the  order 
of  the  world,  and  a  dearth  of  love  in  the  life  on  earth.  Sal- 
vation from  misery  was  in  God  alone.  Before  Him  all 
the  things  of  the  earth  were  petty  and  as  naught ;  Emperor 
and  Pope  and  the  wisdom  of  man  were  transient  as  the 
flowers  of  the  fields.  If  God  was  merciful  he  could  save  man 
from  the  troubles  of  this  life  and  compensate  him  by  ever- 
lasting bliss  for  his  sufferings  here  below.  But  how  could 
such  grace  be  won?  What  virtue  of  weak  humanity  durst 
hope  to  earn  the  infinite  treasure  of  divine  favor?  Man 
was  damned  from  the  time  of  Adam  to  will  the  good  and 
work  the  evil.  Vain  was  his  best  virtue ;  he  was  cursed 
with  original  sin,  and  it  was  through  no  merit  of  his  own 
if  God  showed  him  mercy. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  AGE.  9 

In  sucli  wise  the  human  heart  wrestled  in  anguish  in 
those  days.  But  forth  from  the  sacred  documents  of  the 
Scripture,  which  were  to  the  people  as  a  dark  legend, 
there  sounded  from  afar  the  word:  "Christ  is  Love." 
The  ruling  church  knew  little  of  such  love.  In  its  creed, 
God  stood  far  removed  from  the  human  soul,  the  image  of 
Him  on  the  Cross  was  hidden  behind  countless  saints  and 
blessed  martyrs,  all  of  whom  were  needed  to  intercede 
with  the  wrathful  God.  Yet  the  nature  of  the  Teuton  fer- 
vently demanded  a  cordial  relation  with  the  Almighty,  he 
yearned  with  irrepressible  force  to  win  the  love  of  God. 
He  who  gave  himself  to  penance,  wrestling  in  ardent 
prayer  and  without  cessation  for  the  love  of  God,  could 
feel  the  highest  happiness  in  merging,  yielding  himself  to 
God  while  on  earth,  and  had  the  hope  of  bliss  in  heaven. 
But  the  hierarchy  no  longer  taught  individual  endeavor 
for  the  grace  of  God.  The  Pope  claimed  to  be  the  ad- 
ministrator of  the  inexhaustible  deserts  of  Christ,  and 
the  church  taught  that  the  prayers  of  the  saints  for  sinful 
humanity  had  helped  to  pile  up  an  infinite  treasure  of 
good  works,  prayers,  fasts,  and  penances  for  the  good  of 
others,  all  of  which  treasures  were  administered  by  the 
Pope,  who  could  give  of  them  to  whomsoever  he  wished 
to  free  from  sin.  And,  likewise,  if  a  number  of  the  faith- 
ful would  associate  themselves  together  in  a  pious  society, 
the  Pope  could  grant  to  such  a  brotherhood  the  dispensa- 
tion that  the  deserts  of  the  saints  and  the  surplus  of  pious 
devotional  works,  prayers,  masses,  pilgrimages,  penances, 
donations,  might  pass  from  one  to  another. 

Thus  there  arose,  under  the  patronage  of  mediating 
saints,  the  pious  brotherhoods  in  which  association  could 


10  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

effect  that  which  was  impossible  for  the  weak  individual. 
Their  nuniber  was  great.  As  late  as  1530  Luther  com- 
plains that  they  are  innumerable.  How  crude  and  wretched 
was  their  mechanism  may  be  shown  by  an  example,  se- 
lecting the  brotherhood  of  the  11,000  virgins,  called  St. 
Ursula's  Ship,  of  which  Prince-Elector  Frederick  the  Wise 
was  a  founder  and  charter  member.  According  to  its  con- 
stitution, this  society  had  collected  in  spiritual  treasures 
that  were  to  help  the  brethren  in  acquiring  eternal  bliss, 
the  following  articles :  6,455  masses,  3,550  full  psalters, 
200,000  rosaries,  200,000  TeDeums,  1,600  Gloria  in  Excel- 
sis  Deo;  furthermore,  11,000  prayers  for  the  patroness  St. 
Ursula,  and  630  times  11,000  Paternosters  and  Ave-Ma- 
rias;  also,  for  the  knights,  50  times  10,000  Paternosters 
and  Ave-Marias^  etc.  The  entire  power  of  this  treasure  for 
salvation  was  for  the  benefit  of  the  members  of  the  broth- 
erhood. Many  spiritual  institutions  and  private  individ- 
uals had  earned  especial  merit  by  large  contributions  to 
the  treasure  of  prayers.  Upon  the  reorganisation  of  the 
society,  Prince-Blector  Frederick  donated  a  fine  silver  Ur- 
sula. A  layman  earned  membership  if,  in  the  course  of 
his  life,  he  once  said  W^^^^  Paternosters  and  Ave-Marias. 
If  he  spoke  thirty-two  a  day  he  earned  it  in  a  year ;  if  six- 
teen, in  two  years;  if  eight,  in  four  years.  If  one  was 
prevented  from  absolving  this  quantity  of  pra3^er  by  mar- 
riage, business  concerns,  or  illness,  he  could  join  b^^  hav- 
ing eleven  masses  read  for  himself,  etc.  Still,  this  frater- 
nity was  one  of  the  best,  for  the  members  were  not 
required  to  pay  cash ;  it  was  meant  to  be  a  society  of  poor 
people  who  wanted  to  help  one  another  to  Heaven  by  pray- 
ing.    And  yet,  after  all  is  said,  it  cannot  be  denied  that 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  AGE.  11 

these  pious  societies,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  touched  the  soul  more  nearly  than  anything  else 
that  the  decaying  church  of  the  Middle  Ages  offered  to  the 
people.  On  the  other  hand,  the  traffic  in  pardons  and  in- 
dulgences was  the  foulest  spot  on  the  sick  body  of  the 
church.  In  their  capacity  as  conservators  of  the  accumu- 
lated infinite  treasures  of  Christ's  merits,  the  Popes  sold 
orders  on  this  treasury  to  the  faithful  for  money.  True, 
the  better  idea  that  even  the  Pope  could  not  really  forgive 
sins,  but  only  remit  the  penance  prescribed  by  the  church, 
never  quite  disappeared  in  the  church  itself.  But  those 
who  thus  taught,  isolated  men  of  the  universities  or  can- 
did ministers  of  scattered  congregations,  did  well  to  take 
care  not  to  develop  their  teachings  into  open  contradic- 
tion against  the  business  of  the  traffickers  in  pardons. 
For  what  was  the  true  doctrine  of  the  church  to  the  Popes 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  who,  almost  without  exception, 
were  atrocious  villains  and  unbelieving  heathens?  Woe 
to  him  who  doubted  that  the  Popes  had  the  right  to  part 
him  from  God,  to  open  or  close  to  him  the  gates  of 
Heaven!  It  was  money  they  demanded  without  end, 
money  for  women  and  boj^s,  for  their  children  and  rela- 
tions, for  their  princely  households.  And  there  prevailed 
an  awful  community  of  self-interest  between  themselves, 
the  bishops,  and  the  fanatical  party  in  the  begging  frater- 
nities. Nothing  made  Huss  of  Hussinetz  so  insufferable 
as  his  fight  against  pardons  and  indulgences.  The  doctrine 
of  repentance  and  grace  drove  the  great  Wessel  from  Paris 
into  an  unhappy  exile,  and  it  was  pardon-mongering 
monks  that  allowed  the  venerable  Johannes  Vesalia  to  die 
in  the  dungeon  of  the  monaster^^  at  ]\Ia3'ence,  him  who 


12  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

first  uttered  the  great  words.  "Wherefore  should  I  be- 
lieve that  which  I  know?" 

It  is  well  known  how  rankly  the  traffic  in  pardons 
and  indulgences  grew  early  in  the  sixteenth  century  and 
how  shamelessly  the  infamous  swindle  was  carried  on. 
When  Tetzel  entered  a  city  with  his  box  he  rode  with  a 
great  suite  of  monks  and  priests,  a  well-fed,  haughty  Do- 
minican. The  bells  were  tolled,  clergy  and  laity  went 
reverently  to  meet  him  and  conducted  him  to  the  church. 
There,  in  the  nave,  his  great  red  cross  was  erected  with 
the  wreath  of  thorns  and  the  nail  holes,  and  sometimes 
the  faithful  people  were  favored  with  the  sight  of  the  red 
blood  of  the  Crucified  Christ  moving  on  the  cross.  Next 
to  the  wreath  were  the  flags  of  the  church  bearing  the 
coat-of-arms  of  the  Pope  with  the  threefold  crown ;  before 
the  cross  stood  the  notorious  chest  strongly  enforced  with 
iron  bands ;  on  one  side  a  pulpit  on  which  the  monk  with 
rude  eloquence  explained  the  miraculous  power  of  his  in- 
dulgences and  exhibited  a  great  parchment  of  the  Pope 
from  which  dangled  many  seals ;  on  the  other  side  the 
money  table  with  blank  pardons,  writing  material,  and 
money  baskets,  and  there  it  was  that  the  clerical  assist- 
ants sold  eternal  bliss  to  the  people  crowding  around. 

The  evils  in  the  church  were  without  number ;  against 
all  of  them  an  outraged  moral  sense  revolted,  but  the  cen- 
tre of  the  whole  movement  was  the  fight  against  the  means 
of  grace  which  made  a  loathsome  mockery  of  the  needs  of 
the  popular  heart.  And  the  appearance  of  so  many  re- 
formers will  be  understood  aright  only  if  it  is  looked  upon 
as  a  reaction  of  the  heart  against  insincerity,  heartless- 
ness,  and  continued  outrage  upon  the  holiest  ideals. 


mills 


^^: 


THE  TRAFFIC  IN  INDULGENCES. 


THROUGHOUT  Northern  Europe  opposition  was 
stirring.  But  the  man  was  not  yet  found  who 
was  destined  to  feel  in  fearful,  long-continued  struggle 
within  his  own  soul  all  the  sufferings  and  all  the  yearn- 
ings of  the  people,  in  order  to  become  the  leader  in  whom 
they  saw  with  enthusiasm  the  embodiment  of  their  own 
inmost  nature.  We  know  little  of  the  struggles  which 
Luther  underwent  prior  to  the  time  when  he  entered  the 
monastery.  They  hardened  his  convictions  until  his  soul 
was  matured  and  ready  to  speak  out  boldly.  But  it  is 
probabl}'  fair  to  judge  by  analogy,  and  happily  we  have 
direct  information  of  an  experience  which  was  doubtless 
similar  to  that  of  Luther  and  typical  of  what  was  passing, 
with  greater  or  less  clearness  of  insight,  in  the  popular 
mind  in  general. 

Frederick  Mecum,  latinised  Myconius,  was  the  son 
of  a  respectable  citizen  of  Lichtenfels,  in  Upper  Franco- 
nia,  born  in  1491.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  years  he  was 
sent  to  the  Latin  school  of  the  then  rising  mountain  city 
of  Annaberg.  He  there  experienced  what  is  here  told  in 
his  own  words,  and,  in  1510,  a  youth  of  nineteen  years, 
went  into  a  monastery.   Being  a  Franciscan,  he  was  one  of 


14  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

the  earliest,  most  zealous  and  loyal  adherents  of  the  pro- 
fessors of  Wittenberg.  He  left  the  order,  became  a 
preacher  of  the  reformed  church  in  Thuringia,  finally  par- 
son and  overseer  at  Gotha,  where  he  carried  the  Reforma- 
tion through  and  died  in  1546. 

The  relation  of  Myconius  to  Luther  was  curious. 
He  not  only  was  a  modest  and  intimate  friend  of  the  lat- 
ter's  in  many  relations  of  private  life,  but  his  friendship 
with  Luther  was  filled  until  death  with  a  poetic  charm  that 
transfigured  his  entire  life.  In  the  most  fateful  time  of 
his  youth,  seven  years  before  Luther  began  the  Reforma- 
tion, the  image  of  the  great  man  appeared  to  him  in  a 
dream  and  calmed  the  doubts  of  his  agitated  heart,  and  it 
was  in  the  transfiguration  of  that  dream  that  the  faithful, 
pious  scholar  thenceforth  saw  his  great  friend  at  all  hours. 

Still  another  circumstance  lends  peculiar  interest  to 
the  personality  of  Myconius.  Although  the  gentle,  deli- 
cately organised  man  was  totally  unlike  his  daring  friend, 
there  is  a  remarkable  similarity  in  the  early  lives  of  the 
two.  And  many  things  that  remain  unknown  in  Luther's 
youth  are  explained  by  what  M\xonius  tells  of  his  own 
early  years.  Both  were  poor  scholars  of  a  Latin  school, 
both  were  driven  into  monasteries  by  inward  struggles  and 
youthful  enthusiasm,  both  failed  to  find  that  peace  which 
they  fervently  sought,  but  found,  instead,  fresh  doubts, 
greater  struggles,  years  of  torment,  of  anxious  uncer- 
tainty. Both  were  driven  to  revolt  by  the  insolent  Tet- 
zel,  who  inflamed  their  souls  with  indignation  and  deter- 
mined the  entire  direction  and  activity  of  their  subsequent 
lives.  At  last,  both  died  in  the  same  j^ear,  Myconius 
seven  weeks   later  than   Luther,   after  having  been,  five 


THE  TRAFFIC  IN  INDULGENCES.  15 

years  before,  recalled  to  life  from  a  deadly  illness  by  a 
conjuring  letter  from  Luther. 

Altbougli  lie  published  little,  Frederick  Myconius 
left,  besides  theological  writings,  a  chronicle  of  his  time 
in  which  his  own  activity  and  the  affairs  of  Gotha  are  de- 
scribed most  minutely.  The  dream  which  he  had  the  first 
night  after  entering  the  monastery  is  w^ell  known  and  has 
been  printed  frequently.  The  Apostle  Paul,  who  then  ap- 
peared as  his  guide,  had  the  face  and  voice  of  Luther,  as 
Myconius  thought  in  after  years.  This  long  dream  is  told 
in  Latin.  The  introductory  narrative,  however,  has  been 
preserved  in  a  manuscript  of  the  ducal  library  of  Gotha 
in  a  contemporaneous  German  form.  The  following  has 
been  translated  from  the  manuscript,  being  shortened  only 
in  a  few  places  : 

"Johannes  Tetzel,  of  Pirna,  in  Meissen,  a  Domini- 
can monk,  was  a  great  crier  and  trader  in  indulgences 
or  pardons  of  the  Pope  of  Rome.  He  remained,  with  this 
purpose,  for  two  years  in  the  new  city  of  Annaberg,  and 
so  deluded  the  people  that  they  all  believed  there  was  no 
other  way  to  gain  pardon  for  their  sins  and  everlasting 
life  than  justification  by  our  works,  which  justification,  he 
said,  nevertheless  was  impossible.  But  he  said  there  was 
one  way  remaining,  namely,  to  buy  it  for  money  from  the 
Pope  of  Rome,  that  is,  to  buy  the  indulgence  of  the  Pope, 
which,  he  said,  was  forgiveness  of  sins  and  a  sure  entry 
into  everlasting  life.  Here  I  could  tell  wonder  upon  won- 
der and  incredible  things  about  what  preachings  I  heard 
those  two  years  at  Annaberg  from  Tetzel.  For  I  attended 
his  preaching  diligently,  and  he  preached  every  day.  I 
even  could  repeat  his  sermons  to  others,  with  all  gestures 


16  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

and  explanations,  not  scoffing  at  him,  but  being  greatly 
in  earnest.  For  I  held  all  his  utterances  to  be  oracles  and 
divine  sayings  which  must  be  believed,  and  that  which 
came  from  the  Pope  I  held  as  though  it  came  from  Christ 
himself. 

*'  Finally,  about  the  time  of  Pentecost,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord,  1510,  he  threatened  to  lay  down  the  red  cross 
and  close  the  gate  of  Heaven  and  extinguish  the  sun,  and 
it  would  never  happen  again  that  for  so  little  money  could 
be  had  forgiveness  of  sins  and  everlasting  life.  Yea,  it 
was  not  to  be  hoped  that  so  long  as  the  world  stood,  such 
graciousness  of  the  Pope  would  come  there  again.  He 
also  urged  that  every  one  should  care  well  for  the  salva- 
tion of  his  own  soul  and  those  of  his  friends,  both  de- 
ceased and  living,  for  now  had  come  the  day  of  salvation 
and  the  pleasing  time.  And  he  said:  '  Let  no  one  neg- 
lect his  own  salvation,  for  unless  you  have  the  letters  of 
the  Pope  you  cannot  be  absolved  and  pronounced  free  by 
any  man  from  many  sins  and  "  reserved  cases."  '  On  the 
gates  and  the  walls  of  the  church  were  publicly  posted 
printed  letters  in  which  it  was  stated  that  in  order  to  give 
the  people  a  testimonial  of  gratitude  for  its  devotion, 
thenceforth  the  letters  of  pardon  and  complete  power 
should  not  be  sold  so  high  as  in  the  beginning,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  letter,  at  the  bottom,  was  written:  '' Pati- 
peribus  dentur  gratis  ' —  to  the  poor  the  letters  of  pardon 
should  be  given  for  nothing,  without  mone}- ,  for  the  sake 
of  God. 

"Thereupon  I  began  to  bargain  with  the  commis- 
sioners  of   this   traffic   in   pardons,  but,  in   truth,   I  was 


THE  POPE  SELLING  INDULGENCES.     (Hans  Holbein's  woodcut. 


TRADE  IN  PARDONS.     Title-picture  of  a  pamphlet  by  Hans  Scliwalb,  published  in  1521.) 


THE  TRAFFIC  IN  INDULGENCES.  17 

moved  and  impelled  thereto  by  tlie  Holy  Ghost,  althougli 
I  knew  not,  at  the  time,  what  I  did. 

' '  My  dear  father  taught  me  in  my  childhood  the  Ten 
Commandments,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Christian 
Faith,  and  compelled  me  to  pray  at  all  times.  For  he 
said  we  had  everything  from  God  alone,  gratis^  for  noth- 
ing, and  He  would  govern  and  lead  us  if  we  prayed  dili- 
gently. Of  the  indulgences  and  Roman  pardons,  he  said 
they  were  only  nets  with  which  money  was  filched  and 
taken  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  simple-minded,  and  men 
could  surely  not  buy  or  bring  about  forgiveness  of  sins 
and  everlasting  life  with  money.  But  the  priests  and 
clergy  became  angry  and  scolded  when  such  things  were 
said.  Since,  then,  I  heard  nothing  in  the  sermons  every 
day  but  the  great  glory  of  the  pardons,  I  remained  in 
doubt  which  to  believe  more,  my  dear  father  or  the  priests 
as  teachers  of  the  church.  I  stood  in  doubt,  but  still  I  be- 
lieved more  the  priests  than  the  instructions  of  my  father. 
But  one  thing  I  would  not  allow,  that  the  forgiveness  of 
sins  could  not  be  obtained  except  when  it  was  bought 
with  money,  particularly  by  the  poor.  Hence  I  was 
pleased  wonderfully  with  the  clause  at  the  end  of  the 
Pope's  letter,  ^ panperibus  gratis  dentiir  propter  Deum.'' 

"And  when,  three  days  later,  they  wanted  to  lay 
down  the  cross  with  great  pomp  and  hew  down  the  steps 
and  ladders  to  Heaven,  the  spirit  moved  me  that  I  went 
to  the  commissioners  and  asked  them  for  letters  forgiving 
my  sins  '  from  mercy  for  the  poor. '  I  said  I  was  a  sinner 
and  poor  and  required  pardon  for  my  sins  given  as  a  mat- 
ter of  grace.  The  second  day,  about  the  time  of  vespers, 
I  entered  the  house  of  Hans  Pflock,  where  Tetzel  was,  to- 


18  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

getlier  with  the  confessors  and  throngs  of  priests,  and  I 
addressed  them  in  the  Latin  tongue  and  asked  them  to 
allow  me,  a  pauper,  according  to  the  order  of  the  Pope's 
letter,  to  beg  absolution  of  all  my  sins  free  of  charge  and 
for  God's  sake,  etiam  nullo  casu  reservato,  without  reser- 
vation of  a  single  case,  and  that  they  should  give  me  Ut- 
erus testimoniales  of  the  Pope,  or  testimony  in  writing. 
The  priests  were  astonished  at  my  Latin  speech,  for  that 
was  a  rare  thing  in  those  days,  especially  among  young 
boys,  and  they  went  from  the  room  into  the  chamber  ad- 
joining, where  the  commissioner,  Tetzel,  was.  They  an- 
nounced my  request  and  also  begged  for  me  that  he  might 
give  me  the  letters  of  pardon  without  charge.  At  last, 
after  a  long  consultation,  they  return  and  bring  me  this 
answer:  'Dear  son,  we  have  submitted  your  praj^er  to 
the  commissioner  with  diligence,  and  he  admits  he  would 
gladly  grant  your  prayer,  but  he  cannot,  and,  though  he 
would,  the  concession  would  be  null  and  void.  For  he 
showed  us  that  it  was  written  clearly  in  the  Pope's  letter 
that  those  will  surely  share  in  the  ample  and  gracious  in- 
dulgences and  treasures  of  the  church  and  the  deserts  of 
Christ  qui  porrigeroit  niarmm  adjiitriceni^  who  help  with 
the  hand,  that  is,  who  give  money.'  And  they  said  all 
that  in  German  words,  for  there  was  not  one  among  them 
who  could  have  spoken  three  words  with  me  in  Latin. 

"On  the  other  hand,  I  pra3'ed  again,  and  proved 
from  the  published  letter  of  the  Pope  that  the  holj-  father, 
the  Pope,  commanded  that  such  letters  be  given  to  the 
poor  free  of  charge,  for  God's  sake,  and  especially  as 
there  was  added  ad  mandahini  do7nini  papae  propi'iiim^ 
i.  e.,  by  the  Lord,  the  Pope's,  own  command. 


THE  TRAFFIC  IN  INDULGENCES.  19 

*'So  they  go  in  again  and  beg  the  proud,  haughty 
monk  to  grant  my  prayer  and  dismiss  me  with  the  par- 
don, as  I  was  a  prudent  and  eloquent  youth  and  worthy 
that  something  special  above  others  be  done  for  me.  But 
they  come  out  again  and  once  more  bring  the  answer,  ''de 
maim  auxiliatrice ^''  of  the  helping  hand,  which  alone 
was  powerful  for  a  holy  pardon.  But  I  remain  firm,  and 
say  that  they  do  me,  a  pauper,  wrong;  whom  neither  God 
nor  the  Pope  wanted  to  exclude  from  grace,  him  they  re- 
jected for  the  sake  of  a  few  pennies  which  I  did  not  have. 
Then  began  a  dispute.  I  was  asked  to  give  a  small 
amount,  that  the  helping  hand  might  not  be  wanting,  if 
it  was  but  a  groat.  I  said  :  '  I  have  not  even  that ;  I  am 
poor.'  Finall}',  it  came  down  to  this,  that  I  should  give 
but  six  pennies.  I  again  replied  that  I  had  not  a  single 
penny.  They  urged  me  and  spoke  among  themselves.  At 
last  I  heard  that  they  were  anxious  about  two  things : 
first,  they  should  by  no  means  let  me  depart  without  a 
letter  of  pardon,  for  it  might  be  a  trick  devised  by  some 
one  else  and  might  lead  to  evil  consequences,  since  it 
was  written  clearly  in  the  Pope's  letter  that  it  should  be 
given  to  the  poor  free  of  charge.  Nevertheless,  something 
should  be  taken  from  me  that  the  others  might  not  hear 
that  the  letters  of  pardon  were  given  for  nothing  so  that 
the  whole  lot  of  students  and  beggars  would  come  and  all 
would  want  their  letters  free.  They  need  not  have  had 
any  care  about  that,  for  the  poor  beggars  sought  more  for 
bread  to  still  their  hunger. 

"After  having  held  their  council,  the^^  come  to  me 
again,  and  one  gives  me  six  pennies,  that  I  should  give 
them  to  the  commissioner.     By  this  contribution  I  would 


20  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

also  be  a  builder  of  tbe  churcli  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome,  also 
a  slayer  of  the  Turk,  and  would  have  a  share  in  the  grace 
of  Christ  and  the  indulgences.  But  I  said  freely,  being 
moved  by  the  spirit,  if  I  wanted  to  buy  indulgences  and 
pardons  for  money,  I  might  sell  a  book  and  buy  them 
with  my  own  money.  But  I  wanted  to  have  them  given 
freely,  for  God's  sake,  or  the  commissioners  should  ac- 
count before  God  for  having  neglected  and  trifled  away 
the  salvation  of  my  soul  on  account  of  six  pennies,  since 
both  God  and  the  Pope  wanted  my  soul  to  attain  forgive- 
ness of  all  my  sins,  freely,  out  of  His  grace.  This  I  said, 
and  knew  not,  in  truth,  how  it  stood  with  the  letters  of 
pardon. 

"At  last,  after  a  long  talk,  the  priests  asked  me  who 
sent  me  to  them  and  who  trained  me  to  discuss  such 
things  with  them.  So  I  told  them  the  whole  plain  truth, 
how  it  was  that  I  was  admonished  or  induced  by  no  man 
nor  persuaded  by  any  adviser,  but  that  I  had  made  my 
prayer  alone,  without  any  man's  advice,  and  only  trust- 
ing and  confiding  in  the  gracious  pardon  of  sins  freely 
given,  and  that  in  all  my  lifetime  I  never  spoke  or  treated 
with  such  great  men.  For  I  was  by  nature  timid,  and  if 
I  had  not  been  compelled  by  the  great  thirst  for  the  grace 
of  God  I  should  not  have  dared  such  a  great  thing  or  min- 
gled with  such  persons  and  asked  such  a  thing  of  them. 
Then  the  letters  were  promised  again,  but  so  that  I  should 
buy  them  at  six  pennies,  which  were  to  be  given  me  freely 
for  my  person.  But  I  remained  steadfast  that  the  letters 
of  pardon  should  be  given  to  me  free  of  charge  by  him 
who  had  the  power  to  give  them  ;  if  not,  I  would  commend 


TETZEL.     (Reproduced  from  Castelar's  "La  revolucion  relisiosa.") 


THE  TRAFFIC  IN  INDULGENCES.  21 

and  commit  the  matter  to  God.  And  thus  I  was  dismissed 
by  them. 

"  The  holy  thieves  were,  nevertheless,  sad  on  account 
of  this  bargain.  I  was  partly  sad  because  I  failed  to  get 
a  letter  of  pardon,  and  partly  I  was  glad  that  there  was 
still  One  in  Heaven  who  would  forgive  the  sins  of  the 
penitent  sinner  without  money  or  loan,  according  to  the 
passage  which  I  had  often  sung  in  church:  'As  I  live, 
saith  the  Lord,  I  want  not  the  death  of  the  sinner,  but 
that  he  be  converted  and  live.'  O  dear  Lord  and  God, 
Thou  knowest  that  I  do  not  lie  in  this  matter  or  invent 
-anything  out  of  myself. 

' '  With  all  this  I  was  so  moved  that  as  I  walked  home 
to  my  lodgings  I  was  fain  to  melt  and  dissolve  into  tears. 
So  I  arrive  in  my  lodgings,  go  to  my  chamber  and  take 
the  crucifix,  which  always  lay  on  the  little  table  in  my 
study,  and,  setting  it  on  a  seat,  I  drop  down  on  the  floor 
in  front  of  it.  I  cannot  here  describe  it,  but  at  that  time 
I  could  feel  the  spirit  of  prayer  and  of  grace  which  Thou, 

0  my  Lord  and  God,  didst  pour  out  over  me.  The  sum 
of  it  all  was  this :  I  prayed  that  Thou,  dear  Lord,  wouldst 
be  my  father,  that  Thou  wouldst  forgive  my  sin,  I  gave 
myself  up  to  Thee  completely  that  Thou  shouldst  make 
of  me  whatever  might  please  Thee,  and,  since  the  priests 
would  not  be  merciful  to  me  without  money,  that  Thou 
wouldst  be  my  gracious  God  and  Father. 

' '  Then  I  felt  that  my  whole  heart  was  transformed ; 

1  felt  vexed  at  all  things  in  the  world,  and  it  seemed  I 
was  weary  of  this  life.  One  thing  onlj^  I  wished,  to  live 
for  God  that  I  might  please  Him.  But  who  was  there 
then   that   might   have   taught   me   how  to   go   about   it? 


22  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

For  the  Word,  the  Life,  and  the  Light  of  men,  was  buried 
throughout  the  world  in  deepest  darkness  of  human  laws 
and  the  altogether  foolish  '  good  works.'  About  Christ 
they  were  silent;  nothing  was  known  of  Him,  or  if  He 
was  remembered  He  was  pictured  to  us  as  a  cruel,  terri- 
ble judge,  whom  His  mother  and  all  the  saints  in  Heaven 
could  scarcely,  with  tears  of  blood,  conciliate  and  make 
merciful,  and  even  so,  he  would,  for  every  mortal  sin, 
thrust  the  men  who  did  penance  into  the  torments  of  pur- 
gatory for  seven  years.  The  torment  of  purgatory  was  in 
no  wise  different  from  the  tortures  of  Hell  except  that  it 
would  not  last  forever.  But  the  Holy  Ghost  gave  me 
hope  that  God  would  be  merciful  to  me. 

"And  then  I  began  and  counselled  for  some  days 
within  myself  how  I  might  begin  a  changed  condition 
of  my  life.  For  I  saw  the  sin  of  the  world  and  the  entire 
human  race;  I  saw  my  manifold  sin,  which  was  very 
great.  I  had  also  heard  something  of  the  secret  great 
sanctity  and  the  pure,  innocent  life  of  the  monks,  serv- 
ing God  day  and  night,  separated  from  all  the  evil  life  of 
the  world,  living  soberly,  piously,  chastely,  holding  mass, 
singing  psalms,  fasting  and  praying  forever.  I  had  seen 
this  apparent  life,  but  did  not  know  or  understand  that  it 
was  the  greatest  idolatry  and  hypocrisy. 

''  I  communicated  my  counsel  to  my  instructor.  Mas- 
ter Andreas  Staff elstein,  the  supreme  regent  of  the  school, 
who  advised  me  at  once  to  enter  the  Franciscan  monas- 
tery, which  was  being  rebuilt  at  that  time.  And,  that  I 
might  not  become  changed  in  purpose  by  long  delay,  he 
at  once  went  with  me  personally  to  the  monks,  praised  my 
ability  and  character,  and  boasted  that  I  was  the  only  one 


THE  TRAFFIC  IN  INDULGENCES.  23 

among  Hs  scholars  who  lie  was  confident  would  be  a  right 
godly  man. 

' '  I  wanted  to  impart  my  purpose  to  my  parents  and 
hear  their  opinions,  being  an  only  son  and  heir.  But 
the  monks  taught  me  from  Jerome  I  should  leave  father 
and  mother  and  not  regard  them,  and  run  to  the  Cross  of 
Christ.  They  also  adduced  the  saying  of  Christ :  '  No 
one  is  fit  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  who  lays  the  hand  on 
the  plow  and  looks  behind  him.'  All  these  things  urged 
and  commanded  that  I  turn  monk.  I  will  not  here  speak 
of  many  bonds  and  ties  with  which  they  bound  and  tied 
my  conscience.  For  they  said  I  could  never  be  saved  un- 
less I  speedily  accepted  and  used  the  grace  offered  by 
God.  Thereupon,  being  more  willing  to  die  than  to  forego 
the  grace  of  God  and  eternal  life,  I  at  once  took  the  vow 
and  promised  to  return  to  the  monastery  in  three  days 
and  begin  the  year  of  probation,  as  they  call  it  in  the 
monastery,  i.  e.,  I  would  become  a  pious,  devout,  and 
God-fearing  monk. 

"In  the  year  of  Christ  1510,  July  14,  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  I  entered  the  monastery,  accompanied 
by  my  teacher  and  a  few  of  my  schoolmates  and  some 
very  devout  matrons,  whom  I  had  partly  told  the  cause 
why  I  entered  holy  orders.  And  thus  I  blessed  those 
who  accompanied  me  to  the  monastery,  all,  amid  tears, 
wishing  me  the  grace  of  God  and  all  blessings.  And  so 
I  went  into  the  monastery.  Dear  Lord,  Thou  knowest 
that  this  is  all  true.  I  sought  not  idleness,  nor  care  of 
the  belly,  nor  the  semblance  of  great  sanctity,  but  I 
wanted  to  please  Thee ;  it  was  Thee  I  wanted  to  serve. 

"Thus,  at  that  time,  I  groped  in  great  darkness." 


LUTHER  THE  MONK. 


LITTLE  is  known  of  Luther's  early  life  beyond  this, 
that  he  came  near  death,  and,  during  a  thunder- 
storm, "heard  himself  called  by  a  terrible  apparition  from 
Heaven. ' '  In  fear  of  death  he  vowed  to  enter  a  monastery, 
and  carried  out  his  resolution  speedily  and  clandestinely. 
We  are  justified  in  believing  that  Luther  was  in  a 
frame  of  mind  similar  to  Myconius  when  he  entered  the 
monastery,  except  that  his  sentiments  were  more  pro- 
foundly stirred,  his  struggles  fiercer.  At  odds  with  his 
father,  full  of  terror  at  the  thought  of  eternit3^  which  he 
could  not  understand,  intimidated  b3^  the  wrath  of  God, 
he  entered,  with  almost  convulsive  energy,  on  a  life  of 
renunciation,  devotion,  and  penance.  He  found  no  peace. 
All  the  highest  questions  of  life  assailed  his  unsupported, 
secluded  soul  with  tremendous  force.  The  need  of  feel- 
ing himself  at  one  with  God  and  the  world  was  unusually 
strong  and  passionate  in  him ;  faith  gave  him  only  that 
which  was  unintelligible,  bitter,  repellent.  To  his  nature 
the  m3\steries  of  the  moral  order  of  the  world  were  of  the 
greatest  importance.  That  the  good  were  persecuted 
while  the  bad  were  fortunate,  that  God  damned  the  race 
of  men  with  the  awful  curse  of  sin  because  an  ignorant 


LUTHER  ENTERING  THE  MONASTERY.   (After  Gustav  KOnig.) 


LUTHER  THE  MONK.  25 

woman  bit  into  an  apple,  and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
same  God  bore  our  sins  with  love,  indulgence,  and  pa- 
tience ;  that  Christ  on  one  occasion  sent  away  honest  peo- 
ple with  harshness,  and  another  time  received  harlots, 
publicans,  and  murderers — "  the  wisdom  of  human  reason 
must  become  foolishness  in  the  face  of  such  things."  At 
such  times  he  would  complain  to  his  spiritual  adviser, 
Staupitz  :  ' '  Dear  Doctor,  the  Lord  proceeds  so  horribly 
with  men ;  who  can  serve  Him  if  He  strikes  about  Him- 
self so  recklessly?  "  If  the  answer  was  made,  "How  else 
could  he  subdue  the  stubborn  heads?"  that  intelligent 
argument  could  not  console  the  youth. 

Impelled  by  an  ardent  desire  to  find  the  incompre- 
hensible God,  he  tortured  himself  by  the  closest  analysis 
of  all  his  thoughts  and  dreams.  Every  worldly  thought, 
all  the  impulses  of  youthful  blood,  became  to  him  abom- 
inable wrongs ;  he  began  to  despair  of  himself ;  he  wres- 
tled in  endless  prayer,  fasted  and  mortified  the  flesh.  On 
one  occasion,  the  brothers  were  obliged  to  force  an  en- 
trance to  his  cell,  in  which  he  had  lain  for  days  in  a  con- 
dition not  far  remote  from  insanity.  The  warmest  sym- 
pathy moved  Staupitz  as  he  looked  upon  these  convulsive 
torments,  and  he  would  attempt  to  comfort  him  by  rather 
rude  speeches.  Once,  when  L-uther  had  written  to  him: 
"O  my  sin,  sin,  sin!"  the  spiritual  adviser  answered: 
"  You  want  to  be  without  sin  and  have  no  real  sin.  Christ 
is  the  pardon  of  real  sins,  as  murdering  one's  parents, 
etc.  If  Christ  is  to  help  you,  you  should  have  a  register 
enumerating  the  real  sins,  and  not  approach  Him  with 
such  trifles  and  doll  sins  and  make  of  every  bubble 
a  sin." 


2o  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

The  manner  in  M'^hic'h  Luther  rose  from  his  despair 
decided  his  entire  future  life.  The  God  whom  he  served 
was  at  that  time  a  God  of  terror ;  His  wrath  could  be  ap- 
peased only  by  the  means  of  Grace  indicated  by  the  old 
church,  consisting,  in  the  foremost  place,  in  continual 
confession,  regulated  by  endless  directions  and  forms  that 
appeared  vacant  and  frosty  to  the  soul.  Prescribed  ac- 
tions and  the  exercise  of  so-called  good  works  did  not 
bring  to  the  youth  a  feeling  of  real  conciliation  and  peace 
of  mind.  At  last  a  word  from  his  spiritual  adviser  struck 
him  like  an  arrow  :  ' '  Only  that  is  true  penance  which 
begins  by  love  of  God.  Love  of  God  and  elevation  of  soul 
is  not  the  result  of  the  means  of  Grace  taught  by  the 
church,  but  must  precede  them." 

This  thought  from  Tauler's  school  became  to  the 
youth  the  foundation  of  a  new  moral  relation  of  the  soul 
to  God.  It  was  a  sacred  find  to  him.  The  transforma- 
tion of  the  soul  itself  was  the  principal  thing.  That  was 
the  aim  to  strive  for.  From  the  innermost  corner  of  ever}- 
human  heart  should  come  repentance,  penance,  concilia- 
tion. He  himself,  and  each  man,  could  raise  himself  to 
God.  At  last  he  surmised  what  free  prayer  was.  The 
place  of  the  remote  divine  power  which  he  had  previousl}^ 
been  seeking  in  a  hundred  formulae  and  childish  confes- 
sions was  now  taken  by  an  all-loving  protector  to  whom 
he  could  address  himself  each  hour  joyfully  and  in  tears, 
to  whom  he  could  carry  every  complaint,  every  doubt, 
who  took  an  unceasing  interest  in  him,  cared  for  him, 
granted  or  refused  his  heart-felt  pra3'ers,  Himself  affec- 
tionate as  a  kind  father.  Thus  he  learned  to  pray,  and 
how  fier}'  his  prayers  became !      Now  he  lived  quietly  to- 


LUTHER  AS  A  MONK.     'After  the  woodcut  of  Lucas  Cranach. 


LUTHER  THE  MONK.  ZJ 

getlier  witli  tlie  dear  Lord  wliom  lie  liad  found  at  last, 
in  daily,  hourly  communion.  Conversation  with  the  Su- 
preme Being  became  more  intimate  to  him  than  that  with 
the  dearest  beings  of  this  earth.  When  he  had  poured  out 
his  whole  soul  before  Him  there  would  come  over  him 
tranquillity  and  sacred  peace,  a  feeling  of  unutterable  af- 
fection, he  felt  himself  a  part  of  God.  And  that  relation 
remained  to  him  from  that  time  to  the  end  of  his  days. 
He  no  longer  needed  the  wide  outside  paths  of  the  old 
church ;  with  his  God  in  his  heart  he  could  defy  the 
whole  world. 

He  began  to  believe  that  those  taught  a  false  doc- 
trine who  laid  so  much  stress  on  works  of  penance  that 
besides  them  nothing  remained  but  a  cold  satisfaction 
and  circumstantial  confession.  And,  subsequently,  when 
he  learned  from  Melanchthon  that  the  Greek  word  for 
''repentance"  (Metanoia)  ^  meant,  even  linguistically, 
the  transformation  of  the  soul,  it  appeared  to  him  a  won- 
derful revelation.  On  this  foundation  rests  the  confident 
faith  with  which  he  set  up  the  words  of  the  Scriptures 
against  the  ordinances  of  the  church. 

In  such  manner  did  Luther  in  the  monastery  grad- 
ually work  his  way  to  spiritual  emancipation.  His  en- 
tire subsequent  teaching,  the  fight  against  the  trade  in 
pardons,  his  imperturbable  steadfastness,  his  method  of 
interpreting  the  Scriptures,  rest  upon  the  internal  pro- 
cess by  which,  as  a  monk,  he  found  his  God.  And  it 
may  well  be  said  that  with  Luther's  pra3'ers  in  his  cell 
began  the  new  era  of  history.  Soon,  life  was  to  lay  him 
under  the  sledge-hammer  to  harden  the  pure  metal  of 
ins  soul. 


THE  RUPTURE  WITH  THE  CHURCH. 


IT  WAS  with  reluctance  that  Luther  in  1508  accepted 
the  professorship  of  dialectics  at  the  new  University 
of  Wittenberg.  He  would  have  preferred  to  teach  that 
theology  which  even  then  he  held  to  be  the  true  one.  It 
is  well  known  how  in  1510  he  went  to  Rome  on  business 
of  the  order,  how  he  remained  in  the  holy  city  full  of  de- 
votion and  piety,  what  an  abomination  were  to  him  the 
heathen  practices  of  the  Latins,  the  corruption  of  morals 
and  worldliness  of  the  clergy.  There  it  was  that  while 
reading  mass  his  devotion  was  disturbed  by  ribald  jests 
which  the  Roman  members  of  his  order  interjected.  He 
never  forgot  the  fiendish  words  as  long  as  he  lived. 

But  however  deeply  the  corruption  of  the  hierarchy 
stirred  his  emotions,  it  nevertheless  comprised  all  his 
hopes ;  there  was  no  God  and  no  hereafter  outside  of  it. 
The  lofty  idea  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  its  victories  of 
fifteen  hundred  years  fettered  the  minds  of  even  the 
strongest.  And  when,  clad  in  the  garments  of  the  Ro- 
man priesthood,  he  visited,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  the 
ruins  of  ancient  Rome  and  stood  amazed  before  the 
gigantic  columns  of  the  temples  destroyed,  according  to 
tradition,  by  the  Goths,  the  warlike  man  from  the  mount- 


THE  rupture;  with  the  church.       29 

ains  of  tlie  ancient  Hermunduri  little  dreamed  tliat  it 
would  be  his  destiny  to  shatter  the  temples  of  mediaeval 
Rome  more  thoroughly,  fiercely,  grandly  than  had  been 
done  in  bygone  ages  by  the  cousins  of  his  forefathers. 

Luther  still  returned  from  Rome  a  faithful  son  of  the 
great  mother,  all  heretical  practices,  for  instance  those  of 
the  Bohemians,  being  offensive  to  him.  After  his  return 
he  took  a  warm  part  in  the  controversy  of  Reuchlin 
against  the  judges  of  heresy  at  Cologne,  and  about  1512 
he  was  a  partisan  of  the  Humanists.  But  even  then  he 
felt  that  something  stood  between  him  and  that  school. 
Some  years  later  when  at  Gotlia,  he  failed  to  visit  the 
venerable  Mutianus  Rufus,  although  he  sent  a  very 
courteous  letter  of  excuse.  And  soon  after  he  was  of- 
fended in  the  dialogues  of  Erasmus  by  the  inner  chill- 
ness  and  the  worldly  tone  in  which  the  theological  sin- 
ners were  scoffed  at.  In  the  profane  worldliness  of  the 
Humanists  the  soul  of  Luther,  so  happy  in  its  faith,  never 
felt  truly  at  home,  and  that  pride  which  subsequently  of- 
fended the  sensitive  Brasmus  in  a  letter  meant  to  be  con- 
ciliatory, probably  dwelt  in  his  soul  even  at  that  early 
time.  The  forms  of  Luther's  literary  modesty  during 
that  time  make  the  impression  that  it  was  compelled 
from  a  firm  spirit  by  the  power  of  Christian  humility. 

For,  in  his  faith  he  then  felt  sure  and  great.  As 
early  as  1516  he  wrote  to  Spalatin  who  represented  his 
connexion  with  the  Prince-Elector  Frederick  the  Wise, 
that  the  Elector  was  the  wisest  man  in  all  the  affairs  of 
this  world,  but  where  God  and  salvation  were  concerned 
he  was  struck  with  seven-fold  blindness. 

Luther  had  cause  for  this  utterance,  for  the  provl- 


30  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

dence  of  that  well-poised  prince  was  manifested,  among 
other  things,  by  the  prudent  endeavors  to  gather  the 
means  of  grace  recommended  by  the  church.  Thus,  he 
had  a  peculiar  fancy  for  relics,  and  at  that  time  Staupitz, 
vicar  of  the  Augustine-Eremites  of  Saxony,  was  engaged 
along  the  Rhine  and  elsewhere  collecting  treasures  of 
relics  for  the  Elector.  This  absence  of  the  superior 
officer  was  important  for  Luther  who  had  to  take  his 
place.  He  was  already  a  man  of  authority  in  his  order. 
Although  a  professor  of  theology  since  1512,  he  still 
lived  in  his  monastery  at  Wittenberg,  and,  as  a  rule, 
wore  his  monk's  hood.  He  visited  the  thirty  monasteries 
of  his  congregation,  deposed  priors,  issued  severe  repri- 
mands on  lax  discipline,  and  urged  severity  towards  fallen 
monks.  Yet  he  still  retained  something  of  the  pious 
simplicity  of  the  brother  of  the  monastery. 

For  it  was  in  that  sense  that  on  October  31,  1517, 
after  he  had  affixed  the  theses  against  Tetzel  at  the 
church  door,  he  wrote,  full  of  confidence  and  simple  hon- 
esty, to  the  protector  of  the  dealer  in  indulgences.  Arch- 
bishop Albrecht  of  Mayence.  Full  of  the  ingenuous  pop- 
ular faith  in  the  intelligence  and  good  intentions  of  the 
highest  rulers,  Luther  thought — as  he  often  said  in  later 
times — that  it  needed  but  to  represent  honestly  to  the 
princes  of  the  church  the  disadvantage  and  immorality  of 
such  abuses.  But  how  childish  did  this  zeal  of  the  monk 
appear  to  the  smooth  and  refined  princes  of  the  church ! 
What  aroused  the  profound  indignation  of  the  honest  man 
was  all  finished,  disposed  of,  laid  aside,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  Archbishop.  The  sale  of  indulgences  was  an 
evil  which  had  been  deplored  a  hundred  times,  but  it  was 


LUTHER  LECTURING  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY.     (After  Gustav  Konig. 


THE  RUPTURE  WITH  THE  CHURCH.  31 

unavoidable,  as  many  institutions  are  to  tlie  politician 
whicli,  while  not  good  in  themselves,  must  be  sustained 
for  the  sake  of  a  great  interest.  The  greatest  inter- 
est to  the  Archbishop  and  the  curia  was  their  temporal 
dominion,  which  was  gained  and  supported  by  money 
made  in  that  manner.  The  great  interest  of  Luther  and 
the  people  was  truth.  This  was  the  parting  of  the  wa.ys. 
Luther  entered  the  struggle  full  of  faith,  a  loyal  son 
of  the  church,  full  of  devotion  to  the  authorities  of  the 
church.  But,  again,  he  had  within  him  that  which  con- 
firmed him  against  too  powerful  an  influence  from  such  au- 
thority, a  secure  relation  with  his  God.  He  w.as  thirty- 
four  years  old  at  that  time,  in  the  prime  of  his  powers,  of 
medium  size,  of  slender  but  strong  body,  which  seemed 
tall  by  the  side  of  the  small,  delicate,  bo3dsh  figure  of 
Melanchthon.  In  a  countenance  showing  the  traces  of 
night  vigils  and  internal  struggles,  there  glowed  the  fiery 
e3^es  whose  powerful  radiance  was  difficult  to  bear.  A  re- 
spected man,  not  only  in  his  order  but  also  at  the  univer- 
sity ;  not  a  great  scholar,  for  he  learned  Greek  from  ]\Ie- 
lanchthon  the  following  year  and  Hebrew  immediately 
after ;  he  possessed  no  extensive  book  learning  and  never 
was  ambitious  to  shine  as  a  Latin  poet.  But  he  was  as- 
tonishingly well  read  in  the  Scriptures  and  some  fathers 
of  the  church,  and  what  he  absorbed  he  digested  with  Ger- 
man thoroughness.  He  was  indefatigable  as  a  minister 
of  his  congregation,  a  zealous  preacher,  a  warm  friend, 
having  recovered  an  honest  cheerfulness  at  that  time, 
of  assured  bearing,  courteous  and  adroit,  his  intercourse 
marked  by  conscious  assurance  which  often  transfigured 
his  features  with  a  happj^  humor»     Small  events  of  the 


32  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

day  readily  moved  or  disturbed  him ;  lie  was  irritable  and 
wept  easily,  but  if  a  great  call  approached  him  and  he  had 
overcome  the  first  nervous  excitement — which,  for  in- 
stance, embarrassed  him  in  his  first  appearance  at  the 
diet  of  Worms — he  possessed  a  wonderful  equanimity  and 
assurance.  He  knew  not  fear ;  his  leonine  nature  even 
took  enjoyment  in  the  most  dangerous  situations.  Acci- 
dental danger  of  life  which  he  incurred,  insidious  attacks 
of  his  enemies,  were  scarcely  held  worthy  of  mention  at 
that  time. 

The  foundation  of  this  superhuman  heroism,  as  it 
were,  was  again  his  firm  personal  relationship  to  his  God. 
He  had  long  periods  when  he  desired  martyrdom,  smiling 
and  inwardly  happy,  to  serve  the  truth  and  his  God. 

Still  the  future  held  terrible  struggles  in  store  for 
him,  but  thej'  were  not  of  the  kind  in  which  he  was  met 
by  men.  It  was  the  Devil  himself  he  had  to  beat  down 
for  years,  again  and  again;  he  overcame  the  anguish 
and  torments  of  Hell  which  was  busily  at  M'ork  to  ob- 
scure his  understanding.  Such  a  man  might  be  killed, 
but  could  hardly  be  conquered. 


PHILIP  MELANCHTHON. 


THE  CONFLICT. 


THAT  period  of  the  struggle  wliicli  follows  next,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  controversy  over  the  sale  of  in- 
dulgences to  the  departure  from  the  Wartburg,  the  period 
of  his  greatest  victories  and  of  an  immense  popularity,  is 
perhaps  best  known,  and  yet  it  seems  that  his  character, 
as  it  was  during  that  period  is  not  yet  judged  aright 

Nothing  is  more  remarkable  during  that  time  than 
the  manner  in  which  Luther  gradually  became  estranged 
from  the  Roman  Church.  He  was  modest  in  life  and 
without  ambition ;  he  clung  with  most  profound  reverence 
to  the  lofty  idea  of  the  church,  the  community  of  the 
faithful  for  fifteen  hundred  years.  And  yet  in  four  short 
years  he  was  to  be  separated  from  the  faith  of  his  fathers, 
torn  away  from  the  soil  in  which  he  was  so  firmly  rooted. 
And  during  all  that  time  he  would  stand  alone  in  the 
struggle,  alone,  or  at  least  with  but  a  few  loyal  compan- 
ions— since  1518  with  Melanchthon.  He  was  to  encounter 
all  the  dangers  of  the  fiercest  war,  not  only  against  count- 
less enemies,  but  also  against  the  anxious  warnings  of 
honest  friends  and  protectors.  Thrice  the  Roman  party 
tried  to  silence  him  by  the  mission  of  Cajetanus,  the  per- 
suasive arts  of  Miltitz,  the  untimel}^  assiduity  of  the  quar- 


34  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

relsome  Kck ;  thrice  lie  spoke  himself  to  the  Pope  in  let- 
ters which  are  among  the  most  valuable  documents  of. 
those  years.  Then  came  the  divorce;  he  was  cursed  and 
outlawed ;  according  to  old  university  usage  he  burned  the 
challenge,  and  with  it  the  possibility  of  retreat. 

With  cheerful  confidence  he  went  to  Worms  that  the 
princes  of  his  nation  might  decide  whether  he  should  die 
or  live  among  them  thenceforth  M^thout  Pope  or  church, 
according  to  the  Scriptures  only. 

At  first,  when  he  had  issued  in  print  the  theses  against 
Tetzel,  he  was  astonished  at  the  tremendous  attention 
they  aroused  in  the  empire,  the  venomous  hatred  of  his 
enemies,  and  the  expressions  of  joyful  recognition  which 
he  received  on  many  hands.  Was  his  action  such  an  un- 
heard-of thing?  What  he  had  uttered  was  believed  by  all 
the  best  men  of  the  church.  When  the  Bishop  of  Bran- 
denburg sent  the  Abbot  of  Lehnin  to  him  with  the  re- 
quest that  IvUther  should  suppress  the  publication  of  his 
German  sermon  on  "Absolution  and  Grace,"  no  matter 
how  just  his  position  was,  the  friar  of  the  poor  Augustin- 
ian  monastery  was  deeply  moved  that  such  great  men 
spoke  kindly  and  cordially  to  him,  and  he  was  inclined 
rather  to  give  up  the  publication  than  to  appear  like  a 
strange  freak  of  nature  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  church. 
He  endeavored  zealously  to  controvert  the  rumor  that  the 
Prince-Elector  occasioned  his  quarrel  M^th  Tetzel.  ' '  They 
want  to  involve  the  innocent  prince  in  the  hatred  that  pur- 
sues me."  He  was  willing  to  do  anything  to  preserve  the 
peace,  before  Cajetanus  and  with  Miltitz ;  only  one  thing 
he  would  not  do,  he  could  not  recant  what  he  had  said 
against  the  un-Christian  extension  of  the  sale  of  indul- 


POFK  Li:o  X. 


THE  CONFLICT.  35 

gences.  Yet  it  was  recantation  alone  that  the  hierarchy 
demanded  of  him.  For  a  long  time  he  continued  to  desire 
peace,  penance,  retreat  to  the  peaceful  activity  of  his  cell, 
and  yet  again  and  again  an  untruthful  assertion  of  the 
adversaries  set  his  blood  on  fire,  and  each  contradiction 
was  followed  by  a  new,  a  sharper  blow  of  his  weapon. 

Even  in  the  first  letter  to  Leo  X.,  of  May  30,  1518, 
the  heroic  assurance  of  Luther  is  striking.  As  yet  he  is 
the  faithful  son  of  the  church,  as  yet  he  lays  himself  at 
the  feet  of  the  Pope,  offers  him  his  whole  life  and  being, 
and  promises  to  honor  his  voice  as  the  voice  of  Christ, 
whose  vicegerent  the  head  of  the  church  is.  But  even 
from  this  humility,  which  became  the  member  of  the  mo- 
nastic order,  there  flashes  forth  the  violent  words  :  "  If  I 
have  merited  death  I  do  not  refuse  to  die."  And  in 
the  letter  itself,  how  vigorous  are  the  terms  in  which  he 
describes  the  coarseness  of  the  sellers  of  pardons !  There 
was  honest  surprise  why  his  theses  made  so  much  stir, 
those  sentences  so  hard  to  understand  and  involved  in 
enigmatical  forms  according  to  ancient  usage.  And  good 
humor  sounds  through  the  manly  words  :  ' '  What  shall  I 
do?  I  cannot  recant.  In  our  century  full  of  genius  and 
beauty  that  might  crowd  a  Cicero  into  a  corner,  I,  an  un- 
learned, narrow  man,  without  refinement  of  culture!  But 
necessity  compels,  the  goose  must  chatter  among  the 
swans." 

The  following  3'ear  nearl^^  all  the  friends  of  Luther 
united  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation.  Staupitz  and 
Spalatin,  back  of  them  the  Prince-Elector,  scolded, 
begged,  and  urged.  The  papal  chamberlain  Miltitz  him- 
self praised  Luther's  disposition,  whispered  to  him  that  he 


36  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

was  perfectly  right,  implored,  drank  witli  him,  and  kissed 
him.  True,  Luther  thought  he  knew  that  the  courtier 
had  the  secret  mission  to  carry  him  prisoner  to  Rome  if 
possible.  But  the  mediators  happily  found  the  point 
where  the  stubborn  man  agreed  with  them  heartily,  viz., 
that  respect  for  the  church  must  be  maintained  and  its 
unity  left  undisturbed.  Luther  promised  to  keep  still 
and  to  leave  the  decision  of  the  controverted  points  to 
three  respectable  bishops.  In  this  position  he  was  urged 
to  write  a  letter  of  excuse  to  the  Pope.  But  even  this 
letter  of  March  3,  1519,  undoubtedly  passed  upon  by  the 
mediators  and  wrung  from  the  writer,  is  characteristic  of 
the  progress  Luther  had  made.  Of  humility  which  our 
theologians  read  in  it,  it  contains  very  little,  but  shows  a 
careful  diplomatic  attitude  throughout.  Luther  regrets 
that  he  had  been  charged  with  lack  of  reverence  whereas 
that  which  he  had  done  was  intended  to  protect  the  honor 
of  the  Roman  Church ;  he  promises  to  keep  silent  about 
pardons  and  indulgences  in  the  future,  provided  his  ad- 
versaries would  do  likewise ;  he  promises  to  publish  an 
address  to  the  people  admonishing  them  to  obey  the  Ro- 
man Church  sincerely  and  not  to  become  estranged  from 
it  because  its  opponents  had  been  insolent  and  himself 
rude. 

But  all  these  submissive  words  fail  to  cover  the 
chasm  which  already  separates  his  mind  from  the  Roman 
spirit.  And  it  sounds  like  cold  irony  when  he  writes : 
"  What  shall  I  do,  most  Holy  Father?  I  lack  all  advice. 
I  cannot  bear  the  weight  of  your  wrath  and  yet  I  know 
not  how  I  can  escape  it.  They  demand  of  me  a  recanta- 
tion.    If  it  could  effect  what  is  intended  by  it  I  should 


ERASMUS. 


THE  CONFLICT.  37 

recant  without  a  doubt.  But  tlie  opposition  of  my  adver- 
saries has  spread  my  writings  further  than  I  ever  had 
hoped ;  they  sit  too  deeply  in  the  souls  of  men.  In  our 
Germany  there  now  flourish  talent,  culture,  free  judg- 
ment. Should  I  recant,  I  should  cover  the  church  with 
still  greater  obloquy  in  the  judgment  of  my  countrymen. 
And  it  is  they,  my  adversaries,  that  have  brought  dis- 
grace upon  the  Roman  Church  among  us."  Finally  he 
concludes  politely :  ' '  Should  I  be  able  to  do  more  I  shall 
without  doubt  be  quite  ready  for  it.  Christ  save  your 
Holiness.     M.  Luther." 

Muoh  may  be  read  behind  this  temperate  restraint. 
Even  if  the  vain  Bck  had  not  at  once  forced  the  entire 
University  of  Wittenberg  into  the  fight,  this  letter  could 
scarcely  be  taken  in  Rome  as  a  sign  of  repentance  and 
submission. 

Rome  had  spoken  and  Luther  stood  condemned. 
Yet  once  more  Luther  showed  the  spirit  of  reconciliation 
that  characterises  the  deepest  sentiments  of  his  heart.  A 
second  time  appealing  directly  to  the  Pope,  he  wrote  that 
celebrated  great  letter,  which  at  the  request  of  the  inde- 
fatigable Miltitz  he  dated  back  to  September  6,  1520,  in 
order  to  be  able  to  ignore  the  bull  of  excommunication. 
It  is  the  beautiful  reflexion  of  a  resolute  spirit  who,  at 
once  grand  in  sincerity  and  noble  in  disposition,  from  his 
lofty  standpoint  entirely  overlooks  his  adversary.  With 
genuine  sympathy  he  speaks  of  the  person  and  the  difii- 
cult  position  of  the  Pope,  but  it  is  the  sympathy  of  a 
stranger;  still,  he  ruefully  deplores  the  church,  but  one 
feels  that  he  has  outgrown  it  himself.  It  is  a  letter  of 
divorce,  cutting  keenness  coupled  with  a  positive  attitude 


38  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

and  silent  sorrow ;  tlius  does  a  man  part  from  tliat  wliicli 
lie  once  loved  and  has  found  unworthy.  To  the  media- 
tors this  letter  was  to  be  the  last  bridge,  for  Luther  it 
was  spiritual  emancipation. 

Luther  himself  had  become  a  different  man  in  these 
years.  In  the  first  place,  he  had  acquired  firm  self-reli- 
ance in  his  intercourse  with  the  mighty  ones  of  this  earth 
and  at  a  high  price  acquired  an  insight  into  the  politics 
and  private  character  of  those  who  governed.  To  the 
peaceful  character  of  his  sovereign  there  was  nothing,  at 
bottom,  more  painful  than  this  bitter  theological  con- 
troversy which  at  times  promoted  his  policies,  but  always 
disturbed  him  mentally.  Forever  the  court  sought  to 
restrain  the  men  of  Wittenberg,  and  ever  Luther  took 
care  that  it  was  too  late.  Whenever  the  faithful  Spalatin 
warned  against  a  new  polemic  step  the  answer  came  back 
to  him  that  there  was  no  help,  the  sheets  were  printed 
and  already  in  many  hands  and  beyond  recall. 

In  his  intercourse  with  his  adversaries,  also,  Luther 
acquired  the  assurance  of  a  tried  champion.  He  still  felt 
bitterly  that  in  the  spring  of  1518  Jerome  Eniser  at  Dres- 
den insidiouslj^  led  him  to  a  supper  at  which  he  was 
obliged  to  fight  with  angry  enemies,  particularly  when 
he  learned  that  a  begging  Dominican  friar  had  listened  at 
the  door  and  spread  the  tale  in  the  city  the  next  day, 
that  Luther  was  completely  smothered  and  that  the  lis- 
tener could  scarcel3^  restrain  himself  from  leaping  into 
the  room  and  spitting  in  the  heretic's  face. 

At  the  first  meeting  with  Caietanus  he  still  sank 
humbly  down  at  the  feet  of  the  prince  of  the  church ; 
after  the  second  meeting  he  permitted  himself  to  think 


THE  CONFLICT.  39 

that  tlie  Cardinal  was  as  fit  for  his  business  ''  as  an  ass  for 
harp  playing."  The  courteous  Miltitz  was  treated  with 
corresponding  politeness.  The  Romanist  had  hoped  to 
tame  the  German  bear ;  soon  the  courtier  got  into  that 
position  which  fitted  him :  he  became  the  tool  of  Luther. 
And  in  the  disputation  of  Leipsic  with  Eck,  the  favorable 
impression  which  the  sincere  and  firm  manner  of  Luther 
created  was  the  best  counterbalance  against  the  compla 
cent  assurance  of  his  adroit  adversary. 


BATTLES  WITHIN  AND  BATTLES  AVITHOUT. 


THE  time  wlien  Luther  was  driven  into  a  struggle 
with,  the  greatest  power  on  earth  was  for  him  a 
period  of  terrible  suffering.  Close  to  the  elation  of  victory 
lay  mortal  anxiety,  torturing  doubt,  and  fearful  tempta- 
tion. He  alone  with  a  few,  in  arms  against  all  Christen- 
dom, in  ever  more  implacable  hostility  to  the  mightiest 
power  which  still  embraced  all  that  was  sacred  to  him 
from  his  youth.  If,  after  all,  he  erred  in  this  thing  or 
that?  He  was  responsible  for  every  soul  that  he  carried 
along  with  him.  And  whither?  What  was  there  outside 
of  the  church?  Annihilation,  destruction  in  this  life  and 
hereafter.  If  adversaries  and  timid  friends  cut  his  heart 
with  reproaches  and  warnings,  incomparably  greater  was 
the  torment,  the  secret  gnawing,  the  uncertainty  which 
he  durst  not  confess  to  anybody. 

In  prayer  alone  he  found  peace.  Whenever  his  soul, 
fervently  seeking  God,  soared  in  mighty  upward  flight, 
there  came  to  him  fulness  of  strength,  composure,  and 
serenity.  But  in  the  hours  of  depression,  when  his  im- 
pressionable soul  quivered  under  contrary  impressions, 
then  he  felt  embarrassed,  divided,  under  the  bane  of  an- 
other power  which  was  inimical  to  his  God. 


BATTLES  WITHIN  AND  BATTLES  WITHOUT.      41 

From  his  childhood  he  knew  how  busily  the  evil 
spirits  hover  about  man ;  from  Scripture  he  had  learned 
that  the  Devil  works  upon  the  purest,  to  destroy  them. 
On  his  path,  also,  lurked  busy  devils  to  weaken,  to  entice 
him,  to  make  countless  others  miserable  through  him. 
He  saw  them  work  in  the  angry  features  of  the  Cardinal, 
in  the  sneering  face  of  Eck,  yea,  in  the  thoughts  of  his 
own  soul.     He  knew  how  powerful  they  were  in  Rome. 

In  his  youth  he  had  been  tormented  by  apparitions, 
now  they  returned.  Out  of  the  dark  shadow  of  his  study  the 
spectre  of  the  tempter  raised  its  claws  against  his  reason, 
even  in  the  form  of  the  Saviour  did  the  Devil  approach  the 
praying  man,  radiant  as  the  Prince  of  Heaven  with  five 
wounds,  as  the  old  church  pictured  Him.  But  Luther 
knew  that  Christ  appears  to  poor  mortals  only  in  His 
words  or  in  such  humble  form  as  He  hung  on  the  Cross. 
And  he  gathered  himself  up  indignantly  and  cried  out 
to  the  apparition:  "Get  thee  gone,  thou  blaspheming 
devil,"  and  the  apparition  vanished. 

Thus  the  strong  heart  of  the  man  labored  in  wild  in- 
surrection for  long  years  with  ever  fresh  force.  It  was  a 
ceaseless  struggle  between  reason  and  illusion.  But  ever 
he  rose  victor,  the  primary  strength  of  his  healthy  na- 
ture overcame.  In  long  prayer,  often  lasting  for  hours, 
the  stormy  billows  of  emotion  were  smoothed.,  his  mas- 
sive understanding  and  his  conscience  ever  led  him  from 
doubt  to  certainty.  He  felt  this  emancipating  process  as 
a  merciful  inspiration  of  his  God.  And  after  such  mo- 
ments his  anxious  fear  gave  way  to  a  perfect  indifference 
to  the  judgment  of  men ;  he  became  immovable  and  inex- 
orable. 


42  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

Altogether  different  appears  his  personality  in  the 
struggle  with  the  enemies  of  this  earth.  With  scarcely 
an  exception  he  there  displays  secure  superiority,  most 
especially  in  his  literary  disputes. 

Gigantic  was  the  literary  activity  which  he  devel- 
oped. Up  to  1517  he  had  published  little,  from  that  time 
forward  he  became  at  once  not  only  the  most  fertile  but 
also  the  most  popular  writer  of  Germany.  The  swing 
of  his  style,  the  power  of  demonstration,  the  fire  and  pas- 
sion of  his  convictions  carried  everything  before  them. 
No  one  had  ever  spoken  thus  to  the  people.  His  language 
adapted  itself  to  every  mood,  to  every  key,  now  terse  and 
condensed  and  sharp  as  steel.  Again  in  ample  breadth,  a 
mighty  river,  his  words  penetrated  the  people.  His  im- 
agery and  striking  comparisons  made  the  most  difiicult 
things  intelligible.     His  was  a  wonderful  creative  power. 

He  handled  language  with  sovereign  facility.  No 
sooner  did  he  seize  the  pen,  than  his  mind  worked  with  the 
greatest  freedom.  His  sentences  exhale  the  serene  warmth 
which  filled  him.  The  full  charm  of  heartfelt  joy  in  the 
work  is  poured  over  them.  And  his  power  is  not  the 
least  manifest  in  the  attacks  which  he  directed  at  individ- 
ual opponents.  But  it  is  also  closely  allied  with  the  impro- 
priety which  caused  apprehensions  even  in  his  admiring 
contemporaries.  He  loved  to  play  with  his  adversaries,  his 
fancy  clothes  the  figure  of  the  enemy  with  a  grotesque 
mask,  and  this  picture  of  his  fancj^  he  taunts,  scoffs,  and 
thrusts  at  with  turns  of  speech  that  do  not  sound  temperate 
and  not  always  proper.  But  it  is  in  this  very  invective  that 
his  good  humor,  as  a  rule,  conciliates  the  reader,  though 
not  those  whom  he  hits.      Petty  spitefulness  he  scarcel}^ 


BATTLES  WITHIN  AND  BATTLES  WITHOUT.  43 

ever  sliows,  not  infrequently,  however,  an  indelible  good 
humor. 

At  times,  it  is  true,  he  gets  into  the  real  artist's  pas- 
sion ;  he  forgets  the  dignity  of  the  reformer  and  pinches 
like  a  naughty  child,  nay,  like  a  spiteful  goblin.  How 
he  plucked  all  his  opponents  to  pieces !  Now,  as  by  the 
blows  of  a  club  swung  by  a  wrathful  giant,  again  with  a 
fool's  bauble. 

He  loved  to  ridicule  the  names  of  his  adversaries. 
Thus  they  lived  in  the  circle  of  Wittenberg  as  beasts  or  as 
fools.  Eck  became  Dr.  Geek,*  Murnerf  received  a  cat's 
head  and  claws ;  Kmser,  who  had  his  coat  of  arms,  a  goat's 
head,  painted  on  most  of  his  polemic  writings,  was  mal- 
treated as  a  he-goat ;  the  Latin  name  of  the  recreant  Hu- 
manist CochlaeusJ  was  re-translated  and  Luther  greeted 
him  as  a  snail  with  an  impenetrable  coat  of  mail  and — it  is 
painful  to  relate — even  called  him  snotnose.  Worse,  and 
terrifying  even  to  his  contemporaries,  was  the  violent 
recklessness  with  which  he  inveighed  against  hostile 
princes.  Towards  the  cousin  of  his  sovereign,  Duke 
George  of  Saxony,  he  often  exhibited  an  unavoidable 
forbearance.  Bach  considered  the  other  a  prey  to  the 
Devil,  but  secretly  each  respected  the  manly  worth  of 
the  other.  Again  and  again  they  got  into  disputes,  lit- 
erary ones,  also;  but  again  and  again  Luther  prayed 
heartily  for  the  soul  of  his  neighbor.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  arbitrary  wickedness  of  Henry  VIII.  of  England  was 

*  Geek  =  coxcomb. 

f  "  Murr, "  a  familiar  designation  of  a  cat.  We  must  add  here  that  this  was  the 
custom  of  the  age,  for  Murner  himself  never  fails  to  represent  his  own  picture  in 
his  satires  with  a  cat's  head  and  cat's  claws. 

X  Latin  cochlea,  meaning  a  snail. 


44  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

loatlisoine  to  the  inmost  heart  of  the  German  reformer, 
he  inveighed  against  him  most  shockingly  and  intermin- 
ably. And  even  during  the  last  years  he  treated  the 
violent  Henry  of  Brunswick  like  a  naughty  schoolboy. 
Harlequin  was  the  most  harmless  among  the  many  char- 
acters in  which  he  produced  him. 

If  such  an  effusion  of  his  stared  him  in  the  face  in  print 
when  it  was  too  late,  and  if  friends  made  complaint,  he 
would  be  vexed  at  his  rudeness,  scold  himself,  and  be  sin- 
cerely penitent ;  but  repentence  helped  little,  for  at  the 
next  opportunity  he  fell  into  the  same  error.  And  Spala- 
tin  had  some  cause  to  look  with  suspicion  upon  a  projected 
publication,  even  when  Luther  intended  to  write  very 
mildly  and  tamely.  His  opponents  could  not  equal  him  in 
vigor.  They  called  him  names  with  equal  good-will,  but 
they  lacked  mental  freedom.  Unfortunately,  it  can  hardlj^ 
be  denied  that  this  seasoning  of  the  moral  dignity  of  his 
nature  often  made  his  writings  particularl3^  irresistible  to 
the  common  people  of  the  sixteenth  century. 


ACCEPTING  THE  SUMMONS. 


IN  THE  autumn  of  1517  Luther  got  into  a  quarrel  with 
a  dissolute  Dominican  friar ;  in  the  winter  of  1520  he 
burned  the  papal  bull.  In  the  spring  of  1518  he  had  pros- 
trated himself  at  the  feet  of  the  Pope,  the  vicegerent  of 
Christ;  in  the  spring  of  1521  he  declared  at  the  Diet  of 
Worms,  before  the  Emperor  and  the  princes  and  papal 
legates,  that  he  did  not  believe  either  the  Pope  or  the 
Councils  alone,  but  only  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures and  rational  thought. 

Luther  knew  since  December,  1520,  that  his  case  was 
to  be  heard  at  the  Diet,  called  to  meet  at  Worms,  and  he 
also  knew  that  the  cardinal-delegate,  Aleander,  was  cease- 
lessly urging  the  Emperor  to  be  severe  with  him,  that  the 
Emperor  himself  was  not  favorably  disposed  towards  the 
bold  monk,  whose  heretical  books  he  had  burned  in  the 
Netherlands.  The  Prince  -  Elector  of  Saxony  reached 
Worms  early  in  January,  and  found  the  Emperor  pres- 
ent. The  great  men  of  the  empire  gathered  slowly  and 
tardily.  It  was  not  until  the  end  of  February,  1521,  that 
the  diet  could  be  opened. 

The  intelligence  which  came  from  Worms  to  Witten- 
berg, travelling  about  as  long  as  a  letter  from  Europe  to 


46  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

America  does  to-day,  took  on  a  less  favorable  tone.  The 
Emperor  and  Luther's  enemies  thought  it  improper  that 
the  excommunicated  friar  should  be  admitted  to  the  Diet 
at  all,  and  Prince-Blector  Frederick  and  the  other  princes 
of  the  empire  who  thought  it  was  wrong,  or,  at  least,  im- 
prudent, on  account  of  the  popular  excitement,  to  con- 
demn him  without  a  hearing,  were  obliged  to  put  forth 
the  greatest  efforts  to  obtain  the  concession  that  the  her- 
etic was  asked  if  he  would  recant  and  that  he  secured  a 
safe-conduct. 

Thus  it  was  not  unknown  to  Luther  that  imperial 
outlawry  threatened  him,  and  his  death  was  probable. 
Naturally  such  a  prospect  should  have  impaired  somewhat 
the  cheerfulness  and  literary  productiveness  of  even  the 
most  virile  man.  But  in  his  case  the  reverse  was  true. 
Scarcely  at  any  other  time  in  his  life  did  he  write  so 
much  and  such  a  variety  of  matter  as  during  those 
months.  He  took  his  old  literary  opponent,  Ambrosius 
Catharinus,  by  the  collar,  and,  with  even  greater  energy, 
the  tedious  Emser,  of  Leipsic,  whom  he  scored,  ridiculed, 
and  cuffed  in  a  series  of  little  books.  The  Pope,  the  le- 
gates, and  their  courtesans  were  represented  with  harsh 
humor  in  wood-cuts  by  his  friend,  Lucas  Cranach,  con- 
trasting the  humility  of  the  suffering  Christ  with  the 
splendor  of  the  clerg}-.  He  also  labored  indefatigably  for 
education  and  the  ministrj^  of  souls.  Besides  some  ser- 
mons and  the  Instnictions  for  Penitents  this  period  brought 
the  first  part  of  the  Postils^  one  of  his  principal  works, 
he  worked  on  his  exegesis  of  the  Book  of  Psalms  and 
on  the  fine  and  soulful  book,  Explanation  of  Mary^s  Song 
of  Pi'aise. 


ACCEPTING  THE  SUMMONS.  47 

At  last  the  imperial  herald,  Caspar  Sturm,  who  was 
called  ' '  Germania ' '  in  the  heraldic  language  of  the  Lat- 
ins, brought  the  letter  of  safe-conduct  to  Wittenberg  and 
rode  ahead  of  the  waggon  of  Luther,  who  started  for 
Worms  on  April  2  with  Amsdorf  and  two  other  compan- 
ions. In  the  cities  of  Thuringia  the  people  crowded  about 
his  waggon  offering  their  good  wishes.  At  Erfurt,  the 
Humanists,  who  were  the  ruling  party  at  that  university, 
met  him  in  a  great  procession  on  horseback  and  gave  a 
brilliant  feast. 

But  through  all  these  enthusiastic  acclamations  there 
sounded  a  shrill  note  of  discord.  The  Kmperor  had  prom- 
ised safe-conduct  for  the  journey  both  ways,  and  the 
princes  through  whose  domains  he  travelled,  had  also  sent 
letters  to  protect  him.  Nevertheless,  the  Emperor  did 
not  want  the  excommunicated  friar  to  reach  Worms,  and, 
in  order  to  deter  him,  he  issued  an  order  in  advance  of 
the  hearing  and  had  it  proclaimed  in  the  cities  that  all  of 
Luther's  books  should  be  given  up  to  the  authorities. 
Luther  found  the  proclamation  posted  in  the  cities.  His 
friends  at  Worms  were  alarmed.  Spalatin  sent  him  a  warn- 
ing that  the  fate  of  Huss  was  in  store  for  him ;  even  the 
herald  asked  if  he  still  insisted  on  continuing  his  journey. 
Luther  himself  was  startled,  but  could  not  be  turned 
aside.  He  sent  answer  to  Spalatin  that  Huss  was  burned, 
but  the  truth  was  not  burned,  and  he  would  go  to  Worms 
though  there  were  as  many  devils  as  tiles  on  the  roofs. 

Milder  means,  also,  were  tried  to  divert  him.  The 
Emperor's  confessor,  Glapio,  went  to  Sickingen  at  Ebern- 
burg,  apparently  of  his  own  free  will,  and  advised  most 
urgently  that  Luther    should   avoid    Worms   and   go    to 


48  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

Ebernburg  to  seek  an  understanding  with  him  first.  If 
Luther  had  accepted  this  proposition  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  keep  within  the  time  for  which  he  was  pro- 
tected by  the  safe-conduct.  Luther  replied  to  the  well- 
meaning  bearer  of  the  message  that  if  the  Emperor's 
confessor  desired  to  speak  v/ith  him  he  could  be  found 
at  Worms. 

When  he  drove  into  Worms,  on  the  last  day  of  the 
term  allowed  for  the  journey,  he  was  escorted  by  a  caval- 
cade of  a  hundred  horsemen,  most  of  them  Saxon  gen- 
tlemen, who  had  come  to  meet  him,  while  the  people 
crowded  the  streets  and  watched  him  with  curiosity ;  and 
his  quarters,  which  were  assigned  him  in  the  house  of  the 
order  of  St.  John,  were  visited  until  late  into  the  night 
by  noble  callers  who  were  full  of  curiosity  and  S3^mpath3\ 
The  next  day  he  was  cited  before  the  Diet. 

It  was  a  disagreeable  surprise  to  the  papist  party  that 
Luther  had  the  courage  to  come.  It  w^as  inconvenient  to 
the  Emperor  also.  It  was  necessary,  then,  to  calm  the  ex- 
citement which  his  presence  created  among  the  Germans, 
by  a  speedy  decision.  On  the  other  hand,  his  friends 
and  a  majority  of  the  princes  who  desired  a  compromise 
and  a  friendly  settlement  of  the  dangerous  dispute,  did 
not  want  to  have  the  matter  treated  hastily.  Chief  among 
these  was  the  Prince-Elector,  Frederick  the  Wise,  whose 
prudent  manner  could  not  suffer  any  violent  and  su- 
perficial proceeding,  particularly  as  such  a  course  would 
put  himself  in  a  most  unpleasant  situation  with  the  em- 
pire. He  required  time  to  satisfy  his  conscience  and  come 
to  a  decision.  His  confidential  advisers  knew  that  it  would 
be  simply  a  question  of  recantation  and  that  there  was 


ACCEPTING  THE  SUMMONS.  49 

no  possibility  of  any  discussion  or  debate  before  the 
Diet.  Luther,  however,  had  declared  positively  that  he 
would  recant  nothing.  He  was  required,  first  of  all,  to 
satisfy  his  sovereign  and  all  who  were  inclined  to  medi- 
ate by  asking  for  time  to  reflect  upon  so  grave  and  diffi- 
cult a  matter.  It  was  a  mere  question  of  postponing  the 
final  decision,  but  Luther  was  obliged,  whether  he  would 
or  not,  to  conform  to  this  requirement. 


THE  DIET  OF  WORMS. 


IT  WAS  on  jVpril  17,  at  four  o'clock  in  tlie  afternoon, 
that  Luther  was  escorted  to  the  Diet  by  the  imperial 
marshal,  Ulrich  von  Pappenheim,  and  the  herald.  The 
people  crowded  the  streets  and  climbed  on  the  roofs  to  see 
Luther,  so  that  he  was  taken  by  side  streets  to  the  Epis- 
copal Court,  where  the  Diet  was  in  session.  This  court, 
according  to  popular  tradition,  was  in  ancient  times  the 
royal  palace  of  Gunther,  King  of  the  Burgundians,  and  it 
was  there  that  the  King,  with  the  gloomy  Hagen,  devised 
the  secret  plot  against  the  life  of  the  sunny  hero  Sieg- 
fried. Since  that  time  the  celebrated  building  has  been 
destroyed  by  the  French.  The  princes  and  other  partici- 
pants in  the  Diet  sat  in  the  main  hall,  which  opened  along 
one  side  on  an  ante-room,  so  that  they  could  be  seen  from 
without  and  probably  parts  of  their  speeches  could  be 
heard.  But  the  princes  themselves  were  not  wont  to 
speak  during  the  sessions.  This  was  done  by  their  coun- 
cillors, and  the  princes  retired  for  private  conference  when 
the  time  came  for  taking  a  decision. 

Tradition  tells  us  that  on  the  threshold  of  the  hall 
George  von  Frundsberg,  the  famous  general  of  the  im- 
perial army,  laid  his  hand  on  Luther's  shoulder  and  said 


READY  TO  FACE  THE  DIET.     (After  Gustav  Konig 


THE  DIET  OF  WORMS.  51 

kindly:  ''My  dear  monk,  tkou  goest  to  an  encounter 
which  I  and  many  foremost  leaders  of  battle  never  have 
faced.  If  thou  art  right  and  sure  of  thy  cause,  God  speed 
thee,  and  be  comforted.     God  will  not  forsake  thee." 

When  IvUther  was  led  in,  Pappenheim  cautioned  him 
that  he  could  say  nothing  before  the  august  assembly  ex- 
cept in  answer  to  questions.  When  he  entered  he  did  not 
kneel  down,  as  was  expected  of  a  monk  when  appearing 
before  the  majesty  of  the  Emperor,  but  stood  bolt  up- 
right. In  front  of  him  he  saw  the  pale  face  and  sombre 
glance  of  the  young  Emperor ;  he  saw  the  expression  of 
anxiety  in  the  kind  face  of  his  sovereign,  the  Elector, 
and  found  himself  in  the  presence  oi  all  those  illustrious 
princes  and  gentlemen  of  whose  dispositions  and  opinions 
he  had  heard  so  much  in  late  years. 

The  official  of  the  Archbishop  of  Treves  began  as 
speaker  for  the  Emperor:  "His  Imperial  Majesty  has 
sent  his  mandate  and  summons  to  you,  Martinus  Luther, 
to  appear  before  the  present  Diet,  that  you  may  first  give 
answer  if  you  confess  to  the  books  which  have  appeared 
everywhere  in  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  under  your  title 
and  name,  and  if  you  wrote  them  as  they  here  lie  before 
your  eyes."  He  pointed  to  a  pile  of  books  lying  on  a 
bench.  Jerome  Scliurf,  who,  with  five  other  doctors,  was 
Euther's  legal  adviser,  called  out:  "Let  the  titles  be 
read,"   and  Luther  repeated  the  request. 

The  official  read  the  titles  of  those  books  which 
for  years  had  excited  the  nation  as  was  never  done  by 
the  publications  of  any  man,  either  before  or  since. 
Then  he  continued  :  "  Furthermore,  if  you  confess  to  the 
books.  His  Imperial  Majesty  demands  that  you  shall  re- 


52  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

cant  tliem  here  and  now,  and  therefore  asks  whether  you 
will  do  so  or  not,  since  there  is  mixed  in  them  much  evil 
and  erroneous  teachings  which  may  cause  excitement  and 
discontent  in  the  common,  simple  people.  Consider  and 
take  this  to  heart." 

Luther's  reply  was  about  as  follows:  "Most  illus- 
trious Emperor :  Having  appeared  here  in  obedience  to 
your  gracious  bidding,  I  will  answer,  in  the  first  place,  to 
the  matter  presented :  The  books  whose  titles  have  just 
been  read,  and  some  others,  which  were  written  for  the 
instruction  of  the  people,  I  confess  to,  and  shall  adhere  to 
such  confession  to  the  end  of  my  days.  In  the  second 
place,  however,  since  your  Imperial  Majesty  requires  that 
I  recant  their  contents,  I  would  answer  that  this  is  truly 
a  great  matter,  for  it  concerns  everlasting  life  and  relates 
to  One  who  is  more  than  any  one  in  this  assembly ;  it  is 
His  affair  and  action.  That  I  may  not,  therefore,  mislead 
the  poor  Christian  people  and  myself,  I  beg  and  ask  that 
your  Imperial  Majesty  grant  me  a  term  for  reflexion  and 
consideration." 

The  Bmperor  and  the  princes  joined  in  a  short  con- 
sultation. A  majority  insisted  that  the  delay  be  granted, 
and  the  official  announced  to  Luther  that  the  Emperor's 
mercy  would  grant  him  time  to  reflect  until  four  o'clock 
the  next  day.  Luther  left  with  the  words  :  "I  shall  con- 
sider the  matter." 

In  this  session  he  spoke  low  and  with  humility,  and, 
his  enemies  said,  indistinctly.  It  maj^  be  that  the  first 
impression  of  the  assembly  embarrassed  him.  Assuredl3' 
it  was  a  greater  burden  to  him  that  he  could  not  speak 
out  freel}'  all  that  he  wanted. 


THE  DIET  OF  WORMS.  53 

The  delay  was  short.  The  desire  of  the  enemies  to 
be  rid  of  the  disturber  was  too  great.  The  question  was 
what  effect  a  refusal  of  Luther  would  produce.  For  he  de- 
clared again  after  returning  to  his  lodgings  that  he  would 
not  recant  a  single  stroke. 

On  April  18  he  was  again  called  for  at  four  o'clock, 
and  had  to  wait  in  the  crowd  for  about  two  hours.  But 
when  he  entered  the  meeting  this  time,  he  was  quite  him- 
self again  and  utterly  indifferent  to  the  opinion  of  men. 
He  greeted  the  assembly  according  to  the  manners  of  the 
court,  by  bending  both  knees  a  trifle.  He  spoke  respect- 
fully but  firmly,  and  his  voice,  which  was  clear  and  high, 
as  once  upon  a  time  was  that  of  Charlemagne,  was  heard 
all  over  the  hall.  In  a  well-considered  speech  he  greeted 
the  Emperor  and  the  assembly,  and  first  begged  pardon 
if  in  word,  gesture,  or  manner  he  violated  the  manners  of 
court-life,  since  he  was  not  brought  up  at  any  princely 
court,  but  in  the  corners  of  monasteries.  "In  simplicity 
of  mind  I  have  written  and  taught  up  to  this  time,  and 
sought  nothing  else  on  earth  than  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  instruction  of  those  who  believe  in  Christ." 

Then  he  continued  :  "To  the  two  questions  which 
have  been  put  to  me  I  will  answer  in  this  wise :  I  con- 
fess, as  I  did  yesterday,  that  the  books  enumerated  were 
written  by  me  and  were  issued  in  my  name,  unless  by 
fraud  or  the  ignorance  of  others  something  was  altered  or 
wrongly  extracted  in  the  printing,  for  I  confess  only  to 
that  which  came  from  m3^self.  Now,  my  books  are  not  of 
one  kind,  for  in  some  I  treated  quite  simply  and  accord- 
ing to  the  Gospels,  of  faith  and  morals.  These  books 
must  be  held  useful  even  by  my  adversaries  and  worthy 


54  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

of  being  read  by  Christians.  Kven  the  angry  and  cruel 
bull  of  the  Pope  calls  some  of  my  books  harmless,  al- 
though it  condemns  them  contrary  to  reason.  If  I  were 
to  begin  to  recant  these  writings,  on  which  both  friends 
and  enemies  are  agreed,  I  should  be  in  conflict  with  the 
general  and  harmonious  opinion. 

''The  second  series  of  my  books  is  directed  against 
popery  and  the  actions  of  the  papists,  against  those  who, 
with  evil  teachings  and  example,  have  destroyed  and  cor- 
rupted the  Christian  world,  miserably  oppressed,  bur- 
dened, and  tortured  the  consciences  of  the  faithful,  also 
devoured  the  goods  and  possessions  of  the  great  German 
nation  by  incredible  tyranny  and  rank  injustice.  Should 
I  recant  these  books  I  should  do  nothing  else  than  to 
strengthen  such  tyranny  and  unchristian  practices  and 
throw  open  to  them  not  the  windows  alone,  but  the  doors 
also,  that  they  could  continue  to  rage  and  work  evil,  and 
their  most  impudent  and  criminal  rancor  would  be  con- 
firmed and  fastened  upon  the  poor,  miserable  people  to  a 
degree  that  would  be  intolerable.  This  would  be  partic- 
ularly the  case  if  it  could  be  said  that  such  increase  of 
misfortune  happened  at  the  order  and  upon  the  desire  of 
your  Imperial   Majesty  and  the  entire  Roman  Empire. 

0  my  dear  Lord,  what  an  infamous  cloak  of  villainy  and 
tyranny  I  should  become  by  such  a  recantation ! 

' '  The  third  kind  of  my  books  are  written  against 
certain  individuals  who  tried  to  protect  Roman  tyranny 
and  to  eradicate  the  form  of  serving  God  which  I  taught. 

1  confess  that  against  these  adversaries  I  was  more  vio- 
lent than  was  proper  for  I  do  not  make  myself  out  a  saint, 
nor  did  I  fight  for  myself,  but  for  the   honor  of  Christ, 


THE  DIET  OF  WORMS.  55 

These  books,  likewise,  I  cannot  recant,  for  my  recanta- 
tion and  retreat  would  strengthen  the  tyrannical  wrath 
and  mad  government  of  the  enemies. 

"My  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  questioned  by  the 
high  priest  about  his  teachings,  and,  being  struck  on  the 
cheek  by  a  servant,  said :  '  If  I  have  spoken  evil,  bear 
witness  of  the  evil.'  Since  the  Lord  did  not  refuse  to 
listen  to  an  argument  against  his  teachings,  even  from  the 
lowliest  slave,  how  much  more  is  it  becoming  in  me,  an 
erring  man,  to  desire  and  expect  that  some  one  may  give 
me  witness  against  my  teachings.  Hence,  I  implore  the 
highest  and  the  lowest,  by  the  merc}^  of  God,  to  prove  my 
error  and  overcome  me  with  the  evangelical  and  prophetic 
writings.  If  I  am  instructed  in  that  regard  I  will  be  the 
very  first  to  throw  my  books  into  the  fire. 

' '  Yesterday  I  was  admonished  earnestly  to  reflect 
that  discord,  riot,  and  rebellion  maj^  grow  out  of  my 
teachings  in  the  world.  I  have  considered  and  weighed 
it  sufficiently.  In  truth,  it  is  most  joyful  to  me  to  see 
that  on  account  of  the  divine  word  there  will  be  dissen- 
sion in  the  world,  for  that  is  the  consequence  and  the  fate 
which  is  prepared  by  the  Word  of  God.  The  Lord  Him- 
self said:  'I  came  not  to  send  peace  but  a  sword,  for  I 
am  come  to  set  a  man  at  variance  against  his  father.' 
Let  us  beware,  therefore,  lest  we  condemn  the  Word  of 
God,  under  the  pretext  of  adjusting  the  quarrels  of  par- 
ties, that  a  flood  of  insufferable  evil  may  not  come  over  us 
and  lest  the  noble  youth,  Emperor  Charles,  have  an  un- 
happy beginning  of  his  reign.  I  say  this  not  as  though 
m}'  teaching  and  warning  was  needed  by  such  great  heads, 
but  because  I  owe  it  to  my  native  land  to  do  her  this  ser- 


56  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

vice.  And  thus  I  commend  myself  to  tlie  mercy  of  the 
Emperor  and  beg  that  your  Imperial  Majesty  may  not 
suffer  me  to  fall  into  disfavor  through  the  ill  opinion  of 
my  enemies." 

Thus  spoke  on  April  18,  1521,  a  man  from  the  com- 
mon people  before  the  Emperor  and  all  the  princes  about 
the  government  of  the  highest  spiritual  lord  of  the  Chris- 
tian world.  The  polite  modesty  of  the  opening,  the  care 
with  which  he  distinguished  his  books,  appeared  as  good 
address  even  to  his  enemies.  But  soon  after,  he  stood  in 
the  assembly  a  stranger  from  another  world,  like  a  hero  of 
old  swinging  his  iron  club  among  a  lot  of  delicate  knights. 
His  comfortable  assurance  in  describing  the  heads  of  the 
clergy  as  frivolous  villains,  and  the  final  warlike  asser- 
tion :  "It  is  most  joyful  to  me  to  see  how  rebellion  rises," 
before  the  august  assembly  which  feared  nothing  more 
than  dissension  among  the  people,  was  not  the  language 
of  a  penitent  speaking  for  his  neck,  but  the  proud  utter- 
ance of  a  ruler  chosen  for  victory  or  ruin. 

It  was  a  weird  effect  that  the  daring  words  and  the 
demon-like  eyes  of  the  man  made  upon  the  official,  and 
he  attempted  to  instruct  and  reprimand  him :  "In  your 
answer  there  were  thrusts  and  biting  attacks,  but  no  open 
declaration.  What  you  teach  has  been  said  by  Huss  and 
other  heretics,  and  that  teaching  has  already  been  con- 
demned at  the  Council  of  Constance,  with  sufficient  rea- 
son, by  Pope  and  Emperor.  I  demand  a  simple,  plain  an- 
swer: Will  you  recant  or  not?  If  3'ou  recant,  your 
innocent  little  books  will  be  preserved ;  if  you  do  not 
recant,  no  regard  will  be  had  for  what  else  you  may  have 
written  in  a  Christian  sense,  and  you  will  give  his  Impe- 


.i.ii»i>^i)w>^njj)^iyiys».»'""~y'«»w;'^^''^ 


^^i^^^£.dL&MMMiii.%,K.ii..^' 


'CHRISTO   >   SACKV-jV^ 

ILLs-pEi  VERBOA^AGTiA  PIE'tAJE-  FAVEBAT  • 
•  Per  FET  VA  •  T>  ic  fiVS  •  p  0  STE  Ri  TATE  •  CO  LI  • 


•  D  •  FRIDR-  DVCI  •  S AXON  •  S  •  R-  I/AP  - 
•ARCHim-  electorl- 

•  A  LBERTV S  •  DVRER  •  KvR  •  PAC I EB AT  ' 

•  B-AV-  F  *V    V  - 

v^  ji;  '  m       D'  ^  xxiiir  >        ^  p 


FREDERICK  THE  WISE.  PRINXE-ELECTOR  OF  SAXONY.      After  Albrecht  Durer.) 


THE  DIET  OF  WORMS.  57 

rial  Majesty  cause  to  do  with  you  as  was  done  with  Huss 
and  others." 

It  was  then  that  Luther  spoke  the  familiar  words : 
"Since  his  Imperial  Majesty  requires  a  simple  and 
straight  answer,  I  will  give  an  answer  that  is  neither  of- 
fensive nor  biting.  I  do  not  believe  in  either  the  Pope  or 
the  councils  alone,  since  it  is  plain  that  they  have  erred 
repeatedly  and  contradicted  themselves.  Unless  I  am 
overcome  with  the  testimony  of  the  Scripture  or  with 
clear  and  transparent  reasons,  I  will  and  shall  not  recant 
a  single  word,  for  it  is  wicked  and  dangerous  to  act  con- 
trary to  conscience." 

The  official  and  Luther  spoke  Latin  first,  then  re- 
peated their  w^ords  in  German.  After  the  words  of  Luther 
there  was  excitement  and  murmuring  in  the  hall,  and  the 
following  Latin  speeches  of  the  two  champions  were  not 
heard  all  through  the  meeting.  The  angry  Bmperor 
again  asked,  through  the  official,  if  Luther  dared  assert 
that  the  councils  had  erred.  And  when  Luther  answered: 
"Councils  can  err  and  have  erred,  and  the  one  of  Con- 
stance decided  contrary  to  the  clear  and  lucid  text  of  the 
Scripture,  which  I  will  demonstrate,"  the  Emperor  had 
heard  enough.  Amazed  at  such  audacity,  he  gave  the 
signal  to  close  the  proceedings  and  break  up  the  meeting. 
In  response  to  the  hostile  gesture  of  the  Emperor  and 
amid  the  clamor  of  his  enemies,  Luther  finally  exclaimed 
in  German  the  words  which,  according  to  the  form  handed 
down  by  his  theological  friends  in  the  editions  of  his 
works,  were:  "Here  I  am.  I  cannot  do  otherwise.  God 
help  me.     Amen!"     In  reality  they  were  probably  ut- 


58  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

tered  in  this  way:  "I  cannot  do  otherwise.  May  God 
come  to  my  aid.     Amen.     Here  I  am." 

It  was  the  two  days  of  the  17th  and  18th  of  April, 
1521,  that  the  two  men  looked  in  one  another's  faces  who 
have  split  the  life  of  the  western  world  in  two,  the  great 
enemies  who  in  the  great-grandchildren  of  their  spirit 
have  fought  each  other  down  into  the  present  time,  the 
Burgundian  Hapsburger  and  the  German  peasant's  son, 
emperor  and  professor,  the  one  who  spoke  German  only 
to  his  horse,  the  other  the  translator  of  the  Bible  and  cre- 
ator of  the  new  German  language,  the  one  the  predecessor 
of  the  patrons  of  the  Jesuits,  author  of  the  house-policy 
of  the  Hapsburgs,  the  other  the  precursor  of  Lessing,  the 
great  poets,  historians,  and  philosophers.  It  was  an  hour 
big  with  fate  for  the  history  of  the  world  when  the  young 
Hmperor,  lord  over  one-half  of  the  world,  spoke  the  con- 
temptuous words  :  ' '  That  fellow  shall  not  make  a  her- 
etic of  me."  For  it  was  at  that  time  that  there  began 
the  struggle  of  his  house  with  the  spirit  of  the  people,  a 
struggle  of  over  three  centuries,  victories  and  defeats  on 
both  sides.  As  far  as  human  judgment  may  read  the 
workings  of  Providence  in  the  fate  of  nations,  we  of  to- 
day have  at  last  seen  the  final  outcome. 

It  was  the  first  and  only  time,  too,  in  German  his- 
tory, that  a  man  from  the  people  so  firmly  defended,  in 
peril  of  death,  the  demands  of  his  conscience  before  the 
Kmperor  and  the  Diet.  The  effect  of  his  steadfastness 
upon  the  princes  was  great,  immeasurably  great  upon  the 
people.  When  Frederick  the  Wise  came  to  his  chamber 
from  the  assembly  he  said  to  his  intimates,  full  both  of 
admiration  and  of  care:      "  Doctor  JMartinus  spoke  well. 


THE  DIET  OF  WORMS.  59 

ill  Latin  and  in  German.  He  is  mucli  too  courageous  for 
me."  Even  among  those  princes  who  looked  upon  his 
teachings  with  indifference  or  dislike,  respect  and  awe  of 
the  brave  man  increased. 

Luther,  upon  returning  from  the  grand  assemblage 
to  his  lodgings,  raised  his  hands  to  Heaven  and  joyfully 
exclaimed:  "I  am  through,  I  am  through!"  He  had 
escaped  out  into  the  open  from  the  hedge  of  thorns  with 
which  it  was  sought  to  surround  him. 

At  last  Luther  was  free.  But  what  a  freedom  it  was ! 
He  was  banned  by  the  Pope  and  outlawed  by  the  Em- 
peror. Nevertheless,  he  was  free — free  within  himself, 
but  free  as  the  beast  of  the  forest,  a  fugitive;  and  at 
his  heels  howled  a  bloodthirsty  pack  of  enemies.  He 
had  arrived  at  the  climax  of  his  life,  and  the  powers 
against  which  he  had  rebelled,  yea,  the  thoughts  which 
he  himself  had  stirred  up  in  the  people,  thenceforth  worked 
against  his  life  and  teachings. 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  NATION. 


THE  clouds  lower ;  the  storm  breaks ;  the  whole  na- 
tion is  agitated  by  electric  flashes.  The  words  of 
the  Augustinian  monk  of  Wittenberg  crash  and  roll  like 
peals  of  thunder,  and  every  blow  means  progress,  means 
victory.  Even  to-day,  after  a  lapse  of  three  centuries  and 
a  half,  the  tremendous  commotion  of  the  nation  attracts  us 
with  irresistible  magic.  Never,  as  long  as  the  German 
people  has  lived,  did  its  inmost  nature  reveal  itself  at  once 
so  pathetically  and  so  superbly.  All  the  fine  features  of 
the  national  soul  and  character  burst  into  bloom  during 
that  time;  enthusiasm,  resignation,  a  profound  moral 
wrath,  searching  inquiry  within  the  human  mind  after 
the  sublime,  and  serious  pleasure  in  systematic  thought. 
Each  individual  took  part  in  the  controversy.  The  waj-- 
faring  pedlar  disputed  at  the  evening  hearthfire  for  or 
against  pardons  and  indulgences,  the  countrj-man  in  the 
most  remote  valley  heard  with  amazement  of  the  new  her- 
etic whom  his  spiritual  father  cursed  in  every  sermon. 
The  bag  of  the  begging  monk  remained  empt\',  for  the 
women  of  the  village  no  longer  gave  cheese  and  eggs. 
The  tract  literature  swelled  into  an  ocean,  a  hundred 
printing  presses  were  busy  spreading  the  numerous  po- 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  NATION.  61 

lemic  writings,  both  learned  and  popular.  At  every  par- 
ish church,  in  every  chapter,  the  divided  parties  wrangled. 
At  all  points  resolute  clergymen  declared  for  the  new  doc- 
trine, weaker  ones  wrestled  in  anxious  doubt,  the  gates 
of  monasteries  were  thrown  open  and  the  cells  speedily 
emptied.  Every  month  brought  something  new,  some- 
thing unheard-of,  to  the  people. 

It  was  no  longer  a  quarrel  among  priests,  as  Hutten 
had  at  first  contemptuously  called  the  controversy  of  the 
men  of  Wittenberg  with  Tetzel.  It  had  become  a  war  of 
the  nation  against  Roman  domination  and  its  supporters. 
In  ever  mightier  outlines  rises  the  figure  of  Luther  before 
the  eyes  of  his  contemporaries.  Outlawed,  cursed,  per- 
secuted by  Pope  and  Emperor,  by  princes  and  prelates, 
four  years  suffice  to  make  him  the  idolised  hero  of  the 
people.  His  journey  to  Worms  is  described  in  the  style 
of  the  Scripture,  and  the  over-zealous  compare  him  to  the 
martyrs  of  the  New  Testament.  But  the  cultured  classes, 
also,  are  drawn  into  the  battle  in  spite  of  themselves. 
Even  Erasmus  smiles  approval,  and  the  soul  of  Hutten 
is  ablaze  for  the  justice  of  the  new  gospel.  He  no  longer 
writes  Latin.  In  forceful  German  words,  wilder  and  more 
impetuous  than  the  men  of  Wittenberg,  with  a  fire  that 
consumes  him,  the  knight  fights  his  last  feuds  for  the  son 
of  the  peasant. 

This  portraiture  of  Luther,  the  man  in  whom  for  half 
a  generation  was  concentrated  the  best  life  of  the  people, 
touches  us  very  nearly.  But  before  we  try  to  understand 
his  soul,  let  us  briefly  indicate  how  his  nature  affected  un- 
prejudiced contemporaries,  and  first,  the  testimony  of  a 
sober  and  clear  mind  who  never  had  close  personal  rela- 


62  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

tions  witli  Luther,  and,  subsequentl3^  in  an  intermediate 
position  between  the  men  of  Wittenberg  and  the  reformers 
of  Switzerland,  had  ample  cause  to  be  dissatisfied  wath 
Luther's  stubbornness.  He  was  a  friar  from  the  old  Bene- 
dictine monastery  of  Alpirsbach,  in  the  wdldest  part  of 
the  Black  Forest,  Ambrosius  Blaurer,  born  at  Constance, 
of  a  noble  family,  and  thirty  years  old  at  the  time  under 
discussion.  He  had  left  the  monastery  July  8,  1522,  and 
taken  refuge  with  his  familj^  Upon  the  request  of  his 
abbot,  the  Governor  of  the  principality  of  Wiirtemberg 
demanded  of  the  Mayor  and  Council  of  Constance  his  ex- 
tradition to  the  monastery.  Blaurer  published  a  defence 
from  which  the  following  is  taken.  Shortly  afterwards  he 
became  preacher  in  Constance  and  composed  religious 
hymns ;  after  the  last  restoration  of  Duke  Ulrich  he  was 
one  of  the  reformers  of  Wiirtemberg  and  died  at  a  ripe 
old  age  and  weary  of  action  at  Winterthur,  an  irreproach- 
able, worthy,  temperate  man.  What  he  commends  and 
condemns  in  Luther  may  be  taken  as  the  general  opinion 
entertained  bj^  serious  minds  of  those  j^ears  : 

"  I  call  upon  God  and  my  conscience  to  witness  that 
it  was  not  wantonness  or  any  other  unworthy  motive  that 
caused  me  to  leave  the  monastery,  as  they  are  now  cr3'ing 
in  the  streets,  that  monks  and  nuns  leave  their  orders  to 
the  detriment  of  monastic  peace  and  discipline  in  order  to 
live  in  the  license  of  the  flesh  and  give  the  reins  to  their 
wantonness  and  worldly  passions.  What  caused  me  to 
escape  was  honorable,  weighty,  and  great  troubles  and 
urgent  admonitions  of  my  conscience,  based  on,  and  di- 
rected by,  the  Word  of  God.  And  I  am  confident  that  the 
occasion  and  all  the  circumstances  of  my  escape  do  not 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  NATION.  63 

indicate  levity,  frivolity,  or  any  improper  purpose ;  for  I 
laid  off  neither  hood  nor  cloak  from  my  person  except  a 
few  days  after  my  escape,  for  the  sake  of  safety,  until  I 
reached  my  place  of  refuge.  Nor  did  I  go  to  the  wars  nor 
elope  with  a  pretty  woman,  but,  without  delay,  as  speedily 
as  possible,  went  to  my  dear  mother  and  my  relatives,  who 
are  of  undoubted  Christian  character  and  stand  in  such 
respect  of  probity  in  the  city  of  Constance  that  they  would 
not  advise  or  aid  me  towards  any  improper  undertaking. 
"Moreover,  I  trust  that  my  past  life  and  conduct 
will  readily  turn  aside  from  me  any  suspicion  of  im- 
proper, wanton  purpose.  For  while  I  do  not  presume 
anything  before  God,  I  may  justly  boast  before  men, 
since  necessity  now  demands  it,  that  I  have  by  respect- 
able conduct  kept  a  good  reputation  and  esteem,  much 
love  and  favor  in  the  monastery,  at  school,  here,  and 
wherever  I  have  been.  So  did  even  the  message  from 
Wiirtemberg,  in  your  hearing,  give  me  the  praise  that 
there  was  no  complaint  or  ill  report  of  me  in  the  monas- 
tery of  Alpirsbach  on  account  of  my  character  or  conduct, 
but  that  I  carried  myself  well  and  piously,  except  that,  as 
they  say,  I  gave  too  much  heed  to  the  seductive  and  ac- 
cursed doctrine  of  Martin  Luther ;  that  I  read  and  kept 
his  writings  and  taught  accordingly,  against  the  prohibi- 
tion of  the  abbot,  publicly  in  the  monastery  and  in  my 
sermons  to  the  laity ;  and  that  when  I  was  enjoined  not  to 
do  so,  I  poured  the  doctrine  secretly  and  in  corners  into 
the  souls  of  some  inmates  of  the  monastery.  With  such 
commendation  of  my  fathers  and  fellow-members  I  am  en- 
tirely content  and  well  satisfied,  and  will  answer  for  this 
one  misdeed  as  a  Christian,  and  on  the  strength  of  the 


64  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

Word  of  God,  and  I  hope  that  my  excuse  will  assist  not 
only  myself  but  others  also  in  turning  aside  a  false  and 
groundless  suspicion. 

"During  the  last  few  years,  when  the  writings  and 
books  of  Martin  Luther  were  issued  and  became  known, 
they  also  came  to  my  hands  before  they  were  prohibited 
and  condemned  by  spiritual  and  temporal  authority.  And, 
like  other  newly  printed  publications,  I  looked  at  and 
read  them.  At  first  such  doctrine  appeared  somewhat 
strange  and  curious,  even  rude  and  in  conflict  with  long- 
established  theology  and  wise  teachings  of  the  school, 
also  with  some  ordinances  of  the  papal  spiritual  law  and 
in  contradiction  to  old,  and,  as  I  then  deemed,  laudable 
traditions  and  usages  handed  down  to  us  by  our  forefa- 
thers. But  observing,  nevertheless,  clearlj^  that  this  man 
everj^where  in  his  teachings  inserted  lucid,  plain  passages 
of  the  Holy  Scripture  by  which  all  other  human  teach- 
ings should  be  judged,  accepted,  or  rejected,  I  wondered 
much  and  was  thereby  induced  to  read  such  teachings  not 
once  or  twice,  but  often,  with  diligence  and  earnest  atten- 
tion, and  to  reflect  upon  and  compare  them  with  the  scrip- 
ture of  the  Gospels  to  which  they  frequently  appeal.  But 
the  longer  and  more  assiduously  I  did  so,  the  more  I 
understood  how  this  very  learned  and  enlightened  man 
treated  the  Holy  Scripture  with  such  great  dignit}^,  how 
altogether  purely  and  delicately  he  handled  it,  how  he 
cited  it  at  all  points  wisely  and  appropriate!}- ,  how  dain- 
tily and  skilfully  he  compared  it  and  connected  its  parts, 
explaining  and  making  intelligible  the  obscure  and  diffi- 
cult texts  by  comparing  other  passages  that  were  clear 
and  transparent,  and  I  saw  his  treatment  of  the  Scripture 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  NATION.  65 

showed  the  greatest  mastery  and  gave  the  most  profitable 
help  for  thoroughly  understanding  it,  so  that  every  intelli- 
gent layman  who  looks  at  his  books  rightly  and  reads 
them  diligently  can  clearly  understand  that  this  doctrine 
has  a  perfectly  true,  Christian,  and  firm  foundation.  For 
that  reason  it  struck  my  soul  keenly  and  went  deep  into 
my  heart,  and,  gradually,  the  mist  of  many  old  misunder- 
standings has  dropped  from  my  eyes.  For  this  doctrine 
did  not  become  suspicious  to  me  like  those  of  many  other 
scholars  and  teachers  which  I  had  read  before,  since  it 
aims  not  at  either  dominion,  fame,  or  temporal  pleasure, 
but  presents  to  us  simply  the  poor,  despised,  crucified 
Christ,  and  teaches  a  pure,  modest,  tranquil  life  agree- 
able in  all  things  to  the  teachings  of  Christ,  which  is  also 
the  reason  why  it  is  insufferable  and  too  onerous  for  the 
haughty,  puffed-up  doctors  who  seek  in  the  Scripture 
rather  their  own  honor  and  glory  than  the  spirit  of  God, 
and  to  the  priests  who  covet  power  and  rich  benefices. 
Therefore,  I  will  rather  lose  my  body  and  life  and  all  my 
fortune  than  be  moved  from  my  position ;  not  on  account 
of  Luther,  who  is  personally  strange  and  unknown  to  me 
except  by  his  writings — he  also,  is  human,  and  there- 
fore subject  to  mistake  and  error  like  other  men — but  on 
account  of  the  Divine  Word  which  he  carries  in  him  so 
transparent  and  clear,  and  proclaims  and  elucidates  with 
such  victorious  and  triumphant  success  and  with  such  can- 
did and  unterrified  spirit. 

' '  The  enemies  try  to  embitter  this  honey  for  us  by 
the  fact  that  Luther  is  so  irritable,  violent,  and  harsh, 
and  lays  hands  with  such  frivolousness  on  his  adversa- 
ries, especially  the  great  princes,  and  lords  temporal  and 


66  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

spiritual,  that  lie  scolds  and  blasphemes  them  and  so 
readily  forgets  brotherly  love  and  Christian  humility.  In 
that  respect  he  has  often  displeased  me  also,  and  I  would 
not  lead  anybody  to  do  as  he  does  in  that  regard.  Nev- 
ertheless, I  would  not  reject  his  good  Christian  doctrine 
on  that  account  or  even  condemn  him  personally  because 
I  cannot  comprehend  his  mind  and  the  secret  judgment 
of  God  which  perhaps  by  this  one  defect  will  draw  many 
people  away  from  his  doctrine.  And  since  he  wants  to 
defend  not  his  own  cause,  but  the  Word  of  God,  there  is 
room  for  much  indulgence,  and  this  thing  may  be  con- 
strued as  the  zealous  wrath  of  God.  Even  Christ,  the 
source  and  mirror  of  all  gentleness,  often  rudely  assailed 
the  stubborn,  flint3^-hearted  Pharisees  before  all  others, 
cursing  them  and  calling  them  false  h3^pocrites,  whited 
sepulchres,  blind  and  leaders  of  the  blind,  and  children 
of  the  Devil,  as  the  history  of  the  Gospels  shows.  Per- 
haps Luther  would  be  glad  to  give  a  great  title  to  many 
if  he  could  do  so  with  truth.  But  he  may  think  it  inap- 
propriate to  call  gracious  those  whose  minds  are  dark- 
ened, or  good  shepherds  those  who  are  ravenous  wolves, 
or  merciful  those  who  know  not  merc}^  For,  without  a 
doubt,  had  not  God  been  more  merciful  to  him  than  they, 
his  body  would  no  longer  be  on  earth.  But,  be  that  as 
it  may,  I  will  not  defend  it  here.  We  will  reject  the  scof- 
fing and  scolding  and  gratefully  accept  the  earnestness  of 
his  Christian  writings  for  our  betterment. 

"As  I  persisted  freely  in  my  well-founded  purpose 
and  would  not  be  deterred  b}^  any  human  prohibition,  be- 
ing a  Christian,  the  ill-will  of  the  Lord  of  Alpirsbach  and 
several  men  of  his  monastery  grew  steadily  and  violently 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  NATION.  67 

against  me,  and  tlie  sword  of  tlie  wrath  of  God  began  to 
cut  and  cause  discord  among  the  brothers.  Finally,  I 
was  commanded  by  the  highest  authority  to  desist  from 
my  purpose  and  not  to  speak  on  this  subject  to  others  in 
the  monastery  who  were  favorable  to  me  and  inclined  to 
Christian  doctrine.  Moreover,  I  was  not  to  preach  or 
read  in  the  monastery,  but  be  in  every  respect  like  all 
other  brethren.  I  wished  not  to  resist,  but  was  willing 
gladly  to  suffer  such  violence  in  Christian  patience,  but 
with  the  reservation  that  for  myself  I  should  not  be  pro- 
hibited from  reading  and  keeping  what,  according  to  my 
knowledge  and  insight,  was  in  accordance  with  Holy 
Writ  and  profitable  for  my  salvation;  also,  that  if  others 
should  ask  me  and  need  such  advice  I  should  afford  them 
teachings,  writings,  books,  and  brotherly  instruction. 
For  so  I  was  commanded  by  the  Lord,  my  God,  and  I 
would  hold  His  command  higher  than  all  human  obedi- 
ence. But  this  proposition  was  viewed  with  much  disfa- 
vor and  called  intolerable  sin ;  the  daily  discord  increased, 
the  peace  of  the  monastery  was  undermined  and  shaken. 
One  said  he  would  no  longer  remain  in  this  school  of  her- 
etics, another  that  the  Lutherans  must  leave  the  mon- 
astery or  he  would  depart,  a  third  pretended  that  the 
house  of  God  suffered  ill  report  and  worldly  disadvan- 
tage for  my  sake,  as  there  was  a  belief  that  they  were  all 
of  my  opinion,  a  fourth  spoke  of  flogging,  a  fifth  of 
something  else,  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  tolerate  the 
matter  longer,  or  remain  in  such  discord  without  violat- 
ing my  conscience.  Hence  I  begged  of  my  abbot  and 
monastery  earnestly  and  with  greatest  assiduity  a  gra- 
cious and  free  furlough ;  I  would  maintain  myself  for  a 


68  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

year  or  two  witliout  expense  to  tlie  house  of  God  at  some 
scliool  or  elsewhere,  and  see  if  in  the  meantime  by  divine 
interposition  the  cause  of  our  dissension  should  come  to  a 
peaceable  issue,  so  that  we  could  come  together  again 
united  in  evangelical  doctrine  with  kind  and  entirely  broth- 
erly love. 

"  But  this  being  also  refused  by  them,  I  escaped  from 
the  monastery  advisedly  after  having  taken  counsel  with 
wise,  learned,  prudent,  and  pious  gentlemen  and  friends." 

Thus  far  Ambrosius  Blaurer. 

While  Brother  Ambrosius  was  still  looking  with  anx- 
ious care  from  the  window  of  his  cell  over  the  pines  of  the 
Black  Forest,  another  man  entered  into  the  gate  of  a 
stately  castle  in  the  Thuringian  forest.  Beneath,  lay  the 
gloomy  dragon's  hole,  before  him  the  long  ridge  of  the 
charmed  Hoersel  mountain,  in  which  dwelt  Venus,  the 
fair  devil,  to  whom  the  Pope,  through  his  unwillingness 
to  forgive  sins,  had  once  upon  a  time  driven  the  penitent 
knight  Tannhauser.  But  the  withered  staff  which  the 
Pope  on  that  occasion  planted  in  the  ground  turned  green 
and  fresh  over  night ;  God  Himself  had  refuted  the  Pope. 
Poor,  penitent  man,  relying  on  his  child-like  faith,  no 
longer  needs  the  Roman  bishop  to  find  pity  and  mercy 
with  his  Heavenly  Father,  and  the  bad  Pope  himself  must, 
according  to  the  legend,  go  down  into  the  cave  of  the  old 
dragon. 


THE  WARTBURG  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.     (Woodcut  by  H.  \V.  Muller. 


THE  OUTLAW  OF  THE  WARTBURG. 


THE  Emperor  was  more  concerned  than  ever  that  an 
end  be  made  of  the  stubborn  heretic,  for  he  had 
just  made  an  alliance  with  the  Pope  and  taken  the  obli- 
gation to  root  out  the  false  doctrine  of  Luther.  But  most 
of  the  German  princes,  and  notably  the  Archbishop  of 
Treves  himself,  demanded  further  negotiations  in  private 
circles,  where  personal  influence  would  count,  and  a  re- 
gard for  the  unconciliatory  disposition  of  the  Germans 
compelled  the  Emperor  to  yield  a  second  time. 

It  was  now  Luther's  task  to  withstand  the  shrewd 
and  earnest  appeals  of  those  whom  he  himself  esteemed. 
In  those  negotiations  many  concessions  were  made  to 
him,  but  he  must  recognise  the  supreme  judgment  of  a 
general  council.  He  insisted  upon  his  assertion  that  even 
a  council  could  err,  as  it  did  err  at  Constance.  x'Vt  last, 
Richard  of  Treves  saw  that  nothing  could  be  gained  by 
negotiation  with  such  a  man.  Luther  himself  begged  to 
be  dismissed,  and  the  mediators  left  him  with  respectful 
adieus.  The  hours  of  these  noiseless  discussions  con- 
tributed nothing  to  the  settlement  of  the  dispute,  and,  in 
parting,  Luther  spoke  the  devout  words:  ''As  it  pleased 
the  Lord,  so  has  it  come  about;  the  name  of  the  Lord  be 
praised!" 


70  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

Great  elation  and  joy  possessed  his  mind  at  tlie  won- 
derful victory  of  his  cause,  whicli  lie  had  sustained  before 
the  Emperor  and  the  princes  of  the  realm.  It  was  in  vain 
that  enemies  tried,  by  finding  fault  with  his  appearance 
and  bearing,  to  detract  from  the  great  impression.  He 
had  become  a  hero  to  the  people,  who  looked  up  to  him 
with  adoration  and  anxious  sympathy.  All  prudent  men 
saw  that  this  teacher  of  the  people,  if  he  lived,  would  be- 
come a  mighty  power,  not  only  for  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  but  also  for  the  political  fortunes  of  the  empire. 

The  greatest  care  of  his  friends  was  to  save  him  from 
destruction. 

At  Worms,  Luther  was  informed  that  he  must  disap- 
pear for  a  time.  The  habits  of  the  Frankish  knights, 
among  whom  he  had  loj^al  admirers,  suggested  the  idea 
of  having  him  seized  by  men-at-arms.  Prince-Elector 
Frederick  counselled  with  his  faithful  men  about  the  ab- 
duction. And  it  was  quite  in  keeping  with  the  character  of 
that  prince  that  he  did  not  want  to  know  the  place  where 
Luther  was  to  be  kept  in  order  to  be  able  to  confirm  his 
ignorance  by  oath  in  case  of  necessity.  Nor  was  it  easy 
to  win  Luther's  favor  for  the  plan,  for  his  brave  heart 
had  long  since  overcome  worldly  fear,  and  it  was  with  an 
enthusiastic  joy,  in  which  there  was  much  fanaticism  and 
some  humor,  that  he  looked  upon  the  attempts  of  the  Ro- 
manists to  remove  from  this  world  him  over  whom  Another 
was  disposing  Who  only  spoke  through  his  mouth. 

There  are  many  passages  to  show  how  complacently 
he  looked  upon  death.  Here  is  one  written  during  the 
Wartburg  period  in  the  introduction  to  the  Gospel-Read- 
ing of  the  Ten  Lepers   (Sept.  17,   1521):      "Poor  friar 


THE  OUTLAW  OF  THE  WARTBURG.  71 

that  I  am,  I  liave  once  more  lighted  a  fire,  I  have  bitten  a 
great  hole  in  the  pockets  of  the  papists  because  I  assailed 
the  confessional.  Where  shall  I  now  hide  myself  and 
where  will  they  now  get  enough  sulphur,  pitch,  fire,  and 
wood  to  destroy  the  venomous  heretic?  They  will  have 
to  take  out  the  church  windows,  since  some  holy  fathers 
and  gentlemen  of  the  cloth  preach  that  they  must  have  air 
to  proclaim  the  Gospel,  i.  e.,  to  malign  Luther,  to  cry  mur- 
der and  spit  fire.  What  else  could  they  preach  to  the  poor 
people?  Each  one  must  preach  as  he  can.  But  '  Kill, 
kill,  kill  the  heretic ! '  they  cry.  '  He  wants  to  turn  all 
things  upside  down  and  upset  the  whole  clerical  profes- 
sion, on  which  all  Christendom  rests.'  Now,  I  hope,  if  I 
am  worthy  of  it,  they  will  succeed  and  kill  me  and  over 
me  fill  the  measure  of  their  fathers.  But  it  is  not  yet 
time,  my  hour  is  not  yet  come,  I  must  first  stir  the  wrath 
of  the  viper  brood  more  fiercely  and  honestly  deserve 
death  from  them,  that  the^^  may  have  cause  to  perform  a 
great  service  to  God  upon  me."  » 

Reluctantly  Luther  submitted  to  the  plan  of  his 
friends.  The  secret  was  not  easily  kept,  however  adroitly 
the  abduction  to  the  Wartburg  was  planned.  At  first  only 
Melanchthon,  among  the  men  of  Wittenberg,  knew  of  his 
whereabouts.  Now,  Luther  was  not  at  all  the  man  to  sub- 
mit even  to  the  best-meant  intrigues.  There  soon  began 
a  busy  running  of  messengers  between  the  Wartburg  and 
Wittenberg ;  no  matter  what  care  was  employed  in  trans- 
mitting the  letters,  it  was  difficult  to  disprove  the  rumor. 

Luther,  on  the  Wartburg,  learned  sooner  than  the 
men  of  Wittenberg  what  happened  in  the  great  world  ;  he 
received  intelligence  of  all  the  new  happenings  of  his  uni- 


12  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

versity  and  tried  to  sustain  the  courage  of  his  friends 
and  to  guide  their  policy.  Truly  touching  are  his  efforts 
to  encourage  Melanchthon,  whose  impractical  nature  felt 
painfully  the  absence  of  his  strong  friend.  "It  will  go 
along  without  me,"  wrote  Luther,  "  only  have  courage, 
I  am  no  longer  necessary  to  you ;  if  I  come  forth  and 
cannot  again  return  to  Wittenberg,  I  shall  go  into  the 
world.  You  are  the  man  to  hold  the  fortress  of  the  Lord 
against  the  Devil,  without  me." 

His  letters  were  addressed  "from  the  air,"  "from 
Patmos,"  "from  the  desert,"  "among  the  birds  which 
sing  sweetly  from  the  trees  and  praise  God  with  all  their 
might  day  and  night." 

Once  he  tried  to  be  crafty.  In  a  missive  to  Spalatin 
he  enclosed  a  decoy  letter ;  it  was  believed,  he  wrote,  with- 
out reason,  that  he  was  on  the  Wartburg;  he  was  living 
among  loyal  brothers ;  it  was  remarkable  that  no  one 
thought  of  Bohemia;  there  was  added  a  thrust — not  a 
malicious  one — at  Duke  George  of  Saxony,  his  most  zeal- 
ous enemy.  Spalatin  was  to  lose  this  letter  with  careful 
negligence  so  that  it  might  reach  the  hands  of  his  adver- 
saries. But  in  such  diplomacy  he  was  not  consistent,  for 
as  soon  as  his  leonine  nature  was  aroused  by  a  piece  of 
intelligence  he  would  forthwith  resolve  to  depart  for  Er- 
furt or  Wittenberg. 

He  bore  the  idleness  of  his  sojourn  hard.  He  was 
treated  with  the  greatest  attention  by  the  commander  of 
the  castle,  and  this  care  was  shown,  as  was  then  the  cus- 
tom, in  the  first  place,  by  the  loyal  keeper  furnishing  his 
best  in  the  matter  of  food  and  drink.  The  rich  life,  the 
lack  of  exercise,  the  fresh  mountain  air  into  which  the 


THE  OUTLAW  OF  THE  WARTBLRG. 


THE  OUTLAW  OF  THE  WARTBURG.  73 

theologian  was  transplanted,  had  their  effects  on  soul  and 
body.  He  had  brought  from  Worms  a  bodily  ailment ; 
then  there  came  hours  of  dark  melancholy  unfitting  him 
even  for  work. 

Two  days  in  succession  he  joined  in  the  chase.  But 
his  heart  was  with  the  few  hares  and  partridges  that  were 
being  driven  into  the  nets  by  the  throng  of  men  and 
dogs.  "Innocent  little  beasts !  That  is  the  papists'  fash- 
ion of  hunting."  To  save  the  life  of  a  little  hare  he  folded 
it  up  in  the  sleeve  of  his  coat,  but  the  dogs  came  and 
broke  its  legs  within  the  folds  of  the  protecting  coat. 
''  So  does  Satan,"  said  he,  "  chafe  against  the  souls  which 
I  try  to  save." 


A  CONTEMPORARY'S  DESCRIPTION  OF 
LUTHER. 


AN  EXCELLENT  REPORT  of  the  personality  of 
Luther  in  the  days  of  his  residence  on  the  Wartburg 
is  still  extant  in  Johannes  Kessler's  Sabbata^  a  chronicle 
of  the  years  1523-1539,  edited  by  E.  Gotzinger.  When 
travelling  with  a  friend  from  Switzerland  to  Saxonj^,  Kess- 
ler  met  Luther,  who  had  left  the  Wartburg  for  a  short 
time  and  was  secretly  riding  towards  Wittenberg  in  the 
garb  of  a  knight.  Their  meeting  is  so  vividly  described 
by  the  j^oung  student  that  it  should  not  be  omitted  here. 
Johannes  Kessler,  born  about  1502,  the  son  of  poor 
burghers  of  St.  Gall,  Switzerland,  attended  the  monasterj^ 
school  of  that  place,  studied  theology  at  Basel,  and  in 
the  earl3^  spring  of  1522  went  with  a  companion  to  Wit- 
tenberg to  continue  his  studies  under  the  reformers.  In 
the  winter  of  1523  he  returned  home,  and,  since  the  new 
doctrine  had  no  abiding  place  \'et  in  that  country  and  he 
was  very  poor,  he  resolved  to  learn  a  trade.  He  turned 
saddler.  A  little  congregation  soon  gathered  about  him, 
he  taught,  preached,  worked  in  his  shop,  and  wrote  books, 
finally  became  a  school  teacher,  librarian,  and  member  of 
the  board  of  education.     His  was  a  modest,  gentle,  pure 


A  contemporary's  description  of  LUTHER.         75 

nature,  with  a  heart  full  of  love  and  mild  warmth.  He 
took  no  active  part  in  the  theological  controversies  of  his 
age.     His  tale  begins  : 

' '  While  travelling  to  Wittenberg  to  study  the  Holy 
Scripture  we  came  to  Jena,  in  the  Thuringian  land,  in  a 
thunder-storm  which,  Heaven  knows,  raged  furiously, 
and  after  much  inquiry  in  the  city  for  a  night's  lodging 
we  failed  to  secure  any,  being  refused  everywhere.  For 
it  was  Shrove-Tuesday,  when  little  care  was  taken  of  pil- 
grims and  strangers.  We  turned  to  go  out  of  the  city  and 
continue  our  journey  in  hope  of  finding  a  village  where 
we  could  be  lodged.  Under  the  gate  we  met  a  respecta- 
ble man  who  accosted  us  kindly  and  asked  whither  we 
were  bound  so  late,  as  we  could  not  before  night  reach 
any  house  or  shelter  where  we  would  be  kept.  Aloreover, 
the  road  was  easily  missed  and  we  might  be  lost.  So  he 
advised  us  to  remain. 

"We  answered:  '  Dear  father,  we  called  at  all  the 
inns  to  which  we  were  directed  hither  and  thither,  but 
everywhere  we  were  turned  away  and  denied  lodging, 
hence  we  must  needs  go  on  our  way.'  Whereupon  he 
asked  if  we  had  inquired  at  the  Black  Bear.  We  said : 
'  We  did  not  see  it.  Tell  us,  kind  sir,  where  shall  we 
find  it?'  He  showed  it  to  us,  a  little  outside  of  the  city. 
And  when  we  saw  the  Black  Bear,  lo,  while  all  other  inn- 
keepers had  previously  denied  us  lodging,  this  one  came 
to  the  door,  received  us,  and  kindly  offered  to  lodge  us, 
and  led  us  into  the  room. 

"There  we  found  a  man  sitting  alone  at  the  table, 
and  before  him  lay  a  little  book.  He  greeted  us  kindly, 
bade  us  come  near  and  sit  at  the  table  with  him.    For  our 


76  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

shoes — if  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  so — were  so  covered 
with  dirt  and  mud  that  for  shame  we  did  not  enter  the 
room  merrily,  but  stealthily  sat  down  on  a  bench  near  the 
door.  He  offered  us  to  drink,  which  we  could  not  refuse. 
So,  seeing  his  kindness  and  cordiality,  we  sat  down  at  his 
table,  as  he  had  bidden,  and  had  a  measure  of  wine  served 
that  we  might  return  the  compliment  and  offer  him  to 
drink.  We  thought  nothing  else  than  that  he  was  a 
horseman  who  sat  there  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
country,  with  a  red  leather  cap,  in  hose  and  doublet,  with- 
out armor,  a  sword  at  his  side,  the  right  hand  on  the  pom- 
mel, the  left  grasping  the  hilt.  His  eyes  were  black  and 
deep  set,  shining  and  sparkling  like  stars,  so  that  one 
might  not  well  bear  to  look  into  them. 

^'  But  he  soon  began  to  ask  whence  we  came,  answer- 
ing himself,  however:  'You  are  Swiss.  From  what  part 
of  Switzerland?'  We  replied  :  '  From  St.  Gall.'  Then 
he  said :  '  If  you  go  from  here  to  Wittenberg,  as  I  hear 
is  your  intention,  you  will  find  good  countrymen.  Dr. 
Jerome  vSchurf  and  his  brother,  Dr.  Augustin.' 

"We  said:  'We  have  letters  to  them.'  Then  we 
asked  him  again :  '  Sir,  can  you  inform  us  if  Martin  Lu- 
ther is  at  present  staying  in  Wittenberg  or  at  what  place 
else  he  is?' 

"Said  he:  'I  have  certain  information  that  Luther 
is  not  at  Wittenberg  just  at  present,  but  he  is  soon  to 
go  there.  Philippus  Melanchthon  is  there,  however;  he 
teaches  the  Greek  language,  as  others  also  teach  the  He- 
brew. In  good  faith,  I  will  counsel  you  to  study  both, 
for  they  are  necessary  to  understand  the  Holy  Scripture.' 

"Said  we:      'God  be  praised.     For  if  God  gives  us 


LUTHER  AS  YOUNKER  GEORGE.     (After  the  woodcut  of  Lucas  Cranach.) 


A  contemporary's  description  of  LUTHER.       n 

life  we  will  not  stop  till  we  see  and  hear  this  man.  For 
his  sake  we  have  undertaken  this  journey,  since  we  heard 
that  he  wants  to  upset  the  priesthood  and  the  mass  as  not 
being  based  on  a  solid  foundation.  Since  we  have  been 
educated  and  destined  by  our  parents  from  childhood  to 
be  priests,  we  would  fain  hear  what  manner  of  instruction 
he  would  give  us  and  by  what  right  he  means  to  carry  out 
his  purpose.' 

"After  such  words  he  asked :  '  Where  did  you  study 
so  far?'  We  answered:  'At  Basel.'  Then  he  said:  'How 
is  it  at  Basel?  Is  Erasmus  Roterdamus  there  yet?  What 
does  he  do?' 

"  '  Sir,'  we  said,  '  we  know  nothing  else  than  that  all 
is  well  there.  Erasmus  is  there,  also,  but  what  he  does 
is  unknown  and  hidden  from  all,  since  he  keeps  himself 
very  quiet  and  secret.' 

' '  These  speeches  seemed  very  strange  to  us  in  the 
horseman,  that  he  could  speak  of  the  two  Schurfs,  of 
Philippus  and  Erasmus,  likewise  of  the  need  of  both  the 
Greek  and  the  Hebrew  tongues.  Furthermore,  he  spoke 
a  few  Latin  words  between,  so  that  it  would  seem  to  us  he 
was  a  different  person  from  a  common  horseman. 

"'Dear  sirs,'  he  asked  us,  'what  do  they  think  of 
Luther  in  the  Swiss  country?' 

"  '  Sir,  there,  as  everywhere,  there  are  various  opin- 
ions. Some  cannot  extol  him  enough  and  thank  God  that 
He  revealed  His  truth  through  him  and  made  known  the 
errors  ;  others,  above  all  the  clergy,  condemn  him  as  an  in- 
tolerable heretic. ' 

"  He  said :     '  I  can  imagine  it  well,  it  is  the  priests.' 

"With  such  conversation  we  began  to  feel  at  home. 


78  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

SO  that  my  companion  picked  up  tlie  book  l3dng  before 
him  and  opened  it.  It  was  a  Hebrew  psalter.  He  laid 
it  down  again  quickly  and  the  horseman  put  it  away. 
Thence  arose  still  more  doubt  as  to  who  he  was.  And 
my  companion  said :  '  I  would  give  a  finger  off  my  hand 
if  I  understood  that  language.'  'You  will  understand 
it  well  enough  if  you  are  industrious,'  said  the  stranger; 
*  I  also  desire  to  learn  it  better,  and  practise  it  daily.' 

' '  In  the  meantime  the  da3^  went  down ;  it  became 
very  dark,  and  the  innkeeper  came  to  the  table.  When 
he  heard  our  great  desire  for  Mr.  Luther  he  said :  '  Dear 
boys,  if  you  had  been  here  two  days  ago  you  would  have 
been  gratified,  for  here  at  this  table  he  sat,  at  that  place,' 
pointing  with  his  finger.  We  were  much  vexed  and  angry 
that  we  had  been  delayed  and  vented  our  ill-humor  on  the 
muddy  and  bad  roads  which  had  hindered  us.  Yet  we 
said:  'We  are  glad,  however,  that  we  sit  in  the  house 
and  at  the  table  where  he  sat.'  The  innkeeper  laughed 
and  went  out. 

"After  a  little  while  the  innkeeper  called  me  out  be- 
fore the  door.  I  was  frightened  and  thought  of  what  I 
might  have  done  that  was  improper  or  had  given  offence. 

"And  the  landlord  said  to  me:  'Since  I  see  that 
you  honestly  desire  to  see  and  hear  Luther — it  is  he  that 
sits  with  you.' 

"  I  took  the  words  for  a  jest  and  said:  'Mine  host, 
you  are  making  sport  of  me  and  want  to  satisfy  my  desire 
by  an  illusion.'  He  replied:  'It  is  he,  assuredly.  But 
do  not  act  as  though  you  knew  or  recognised  him.  I  al- 
lowed the  landlord  to  be  right,  but  could  not  believe  it.  I 
returned  into  the  room  and  sat  down  at  the  table.      I  was 


A  contemporary's  description  of  LUTHER.  79 

anxious  to  tell  my  companion  what  the  landlord  said.  At 
last  I  turned  to  him  and  whispered  secretly :  '  The  land- 
lord told  me  that  man  was  Luther.'  Like  myself,  he 
would  not  believe  it,  and  said :  '  Perhaps  he  said  it  was 
Hutten  and  you  did  not  understand  him  right?'  Since 
the  horseman's  garb  and  his  manner  also  reminded  me 
more  of  Hutten,  the  knight,  than  of  Luther,  the  monk,  I 
was  easily  persuaded  that  he  said:  'It  is  Hutten,'  the 
beginnings  of  the  two  names  sounding  alike.  What  I 
said  after  that,  therefore,  was  uttered  as  though  I  was 
speaking  to  Sir  Huldrich  ab  Hutten,  the  knight. 

"During  all  this,  there  entered  two  merchants  who 
also  wanted  to  remain  over  night,  and  after  undressing 
and  laying  aside  their  outer  garments  and  spurs,  one  of 
them  laid  by  his  side  an  unbound  book.  Alartinus  asked 
what  the  book  was.  He  said:  "It  is  Doctor  Luther's 
explication  of  some  gospels  and  epistles,  only  recently 
printed  and  issued.  Did  you  never  see  it?'  Martinus 
replied :  '  They  will  reach  me  soon. '  The  landlord  said : 
'  Now  sit  down  at  the  table,  we  will  eat.'  But  we  spoke 
and  asked  the  landlord  to  be  indulgent  with  us  and  give 
us  something  apart.  But  the  landlord  said:  '  My  dear 
lads  sit  at  the  table  with  the  gentlemen,  I  will  serve  you 
in  proper  manner.'  Martinus  hearing  this,  said  :  'Come 
with  us,  I  will  settle  the  bill  with  the  landlord.' 

"During  the  meal  Martinus  spoke  many  pious, 
kindly  discourses,  that  the  merchants  and  ourselves  at- 
tended more  to  his  words  than  to  the  food.  Among  other 
things,  he  complained  with  a  sigh  that  just  then  the 
princes  and  lords  were  assembled  at  the  Diet  at  Nurem- 
berg on  account  of  the  Word  of  God,  the  pending  contro- 


80  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

versies,  and  the  burdens  of  the  nation,  but  were  inclined 
to  nothing  more  than  spending  their  time  in  costly  tour- 
neys, sleigh  rides,  immoral  practices,  and  ostentatious 
pageantries,  whereas  piety  and  earnest  praj^ers  to  God 
would  be  of  much  greater  help.  '  But  such  are  our  Chris- 
tian princes.'  Further,  he  said  he  hoped  that  the  truth 
of  the  Gospels  would  bear  more  fruit  among  our  children 
and  posterity,  who  would  not  be  poisoned  by  the  errors  of 
popery  but  would  stand  upon  the  clear  truth  and  the  Word 
of  God,  than  among  the  parents  in  whom  error  was  so 
deeply  rooted  that  it  could  not  well  be  eradicated. 

"Afterwards  the  merchants  also  stated  their  own 
opinions,  and  the  elder  one  said:  'I  am  a  simple,  plain 
layman,  and  not  expert  in  these  controversies,  but  this  I 
say :  As  the  matter  appears  to  me,  Luther  must  be  either 
an  angel  from  Heaven  or  a  devil  from  Hell.  I  am  minded 
to  spend  ten  florins  for  his  sake  that  I  may  confess  to  him, 
for  I  believe  he  would  and  could  well  enlighten  my  con- 
science.' In  the  meantime  the  landlord  came  to  us  and 
said :  '  Have  no  care  for  the  bill,  Martinus  settled  for  the 
supper  for  you.'  This  made  us  very  happ3^  not  for  the 
sake  of  the  money  and  the  pleasure  of  the  meal,  but  that 
this  man  had  entertained  us  as  guests.  After  supper  the 
merchants  arose  and  went  into  the  stable  to  provide  for 
the  horses.  Meanwhile,  Martinus  remained  alone  with  us 
in  the  room.  We  thanked  him  for  his  kindness  and  the 
honor  done  us  and  gave  him  to  understand  that  we  thought 
he  was  Ulrich  ab  Hutten.      But  he  said:      '  I  am  not  he.' 

"  The  landlord  came  in  and  Alartinus  said  :  '  I  have 
become  a  nobleman  this  night,  for  these  Swiss  take  me 
for  Ulrich   ab  Hutten.'     Said  the   landlord:      'You   are 


A  contemporary's  description  of  LUTHER.         81 

not  he,  but  you  are  Martinus  Luther.'  He  smiled  and 
said,  jesting:  'They  take  me  for  Hutten  and  you  for 
Luther,  soon  I  shall  be  Marcolfus.'*  And  after  such  con- 
versation he  took  a  tall  beer  glass  and  said,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  country:  'My  Swiss  friends,  let  us  drink 
one  friendly  draught  for  a  blessing.'  And  as  I  was  about 
to  take  the  glass  from  him  he  changed  the  glass  and  of- 
fering me  a  glass  of  wine  instead,  said :  '  You  are  unac- 
customed to  beer,  drink  this  wine.'  With  that  he  arose, 
threw  the  cloak  over  his  arm  and  took  his  leave.  He  of- 
fered us  his  hand  and  said :  '  When  you  reach  Witten- 
berg, give  my  love  to  Dr.  Jerome  Schurf.'  Said  we: 
'We  shall  gladly  do  so,  but  how  shall  we  name  you  that 
he  may  understand  your  greeting?'  Said  he :  '  Say  noth- 
ing more  than  this :  He  who  is  coming  sends  his  greet- 
ing, and  he  will  understand  the  words  at  once.'  So  he 
left  us  and  went  to  rest. 

"  The  merchants  returned  to  the  room  and  ordered 
the  landlord  to  bring  them  another  drink,  over  which  they 
held  much  conversation  with  respect  to  the  guest  who  had 
sat  with  them  and  who  he  might  be.  The  landlord  inti- 
mated that  he  took  him  to  be  Luther,  and  the  merchants 
were  soon  convinced  and  regretted  that  they  had  spoken 
awkM'ardly  of  him.  They  said  they  would  rise  earlier  in 
the  morning  before  he  rode  off,  and  would  beg  him  not  to 
be  angry  with  them  nor  remember  it  with  ill-feeling  that 
they  did  not  recognise  him.  So  it  was  done,  and  they 
found  him  in  the  morning  in  the  stable.  But  Martinus 
replied :      '  You  said  last  night  at  the  evening  meal  you 

*A  popular  comical  figure,  not  unlike  the  Punch  and  Judy  o    modern  times. 
See  Dialogue  of  Solomon  and  Saturn  (Marcolf ). 


82  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

would  Spend  ten  florins  on  account  of  Luther  to  confess  to 
him.  If  you  ever  come  to  confess  to  him  you  will  see 
and  be  sure  whether  I  am  Martinus  Luther.'  Further 
than  that  he  did  not  disclose  his  identity,  but  mounted 
soon  after  and  rode  towards  Wittenberg. 

"The  same  day  we  travelled  towards  Naumburg,  and 
as  we  came  to  a  village — it  lies  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain 
which  is  called  Orlamunde,  and  the  village  is  named  Nass- 
hausen — there  w^as  a  stream  flowing  through  the  village 
which  had  overflowed  with  excessive  rains  so  that  no  one 
could  ride  across  on  horseback.  We  stopped  in  that  vil- 
lage and  by  accident  met  the  two  merchants  at  the  inn, 
who  entertained  us  as  guests  for  the  sake  of  Luther. 

"The  following  Saturday,  the  day  before  the  first 
Sunday  in  Lent,  we  entered  the  house  of  Dr.  Jerome 
Schurf  to  deliver  our  letters.  As  we  were  called  into  the 
room,  lo,  we  found  the  horseman  Martinus,  just  as  in 
Jena.  And  with  him  were  Philippus  Melanchthon,  Jus- 
tus Jodocus  Jonas,  Nicolaus  Amsdorf,  and  Dr.  Augustin 
Schurf,  who  were  telling  him  what  had  happened  at  Wit- 
tenberg during  his  absence.  He  greeted  us  and  laughed, 
pointed  with  his  finger  and  said:  'This  is  Philip  Me- 
lanchthon, of  whom  I  have  told  you.'  " 

In  the  ingenuous  story  of  Kessler  nothing  is  more 
remarkable  than  the  serene  unconcern  of  the  mighty  man 
who  rode  through  Thuringia,  outlawed  and  accursed,  his 
heart  filled  with  passionate  anxiety  for  the  greatest  dan- 
ger threatening  his  doctrine — the  fanaticism  of  his  own 
partisans. 


PROBLEMS  AND  TASKS. 


LUTHER  tad  cast  aside  all  the  authority  of  the 
Church;  now  he  stood  alone,  shuddering;  only 
one  last  thing  was  left  to  him — the  Scripture. 

The  old  Church  had  represented  Christianity  in  a 
continuous  development.  A  living  tradition  of  councils 
and  decrees  of  the  Popes,  running  along  beside  the  Scrip- 
ture, had  kept  the  faith  in  constant  motion  ;  like  a  conveni- 
ent river,  it  had  adapted  itself  to  the  sharp  angles  of  na- 
tional character,  of  great  needs  of  the  times.  True,  this 
lofty  idea  of  an  eternally  living  organism  was  not  pre- 
served in  its  pristine  purity,  the  best  part  of  its  life  had 
vanished,  the  empty  shell  only  was  preserved,  the  ancient 
democratic  Church  had  been  transformed  into  the  irre- 
sponsible dominion  of  a  few,  soiled  with  all  the  vices  of  a 
conscienceless  aristocracy,  in  crying  opposition  to  reason 
and  the  popular  heart.  That  which  Luther  could  substi- 
tute would  set  man  free  from  a  chaos  of  soulless  malfor- 
mation.     But  it  threatened  other  dangers. 

What  was  the  Bible?  Between  the  oldest  and  the 
latest  work  of  the  holy  book  there  lay,  perhaps,  two  thou- 
sand years.  Even  the  New  Testament  was  not  written 
by  Christ  Himself,  not  even  in  all  cases  by  such  as  had 


84  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

heard  the  holy  doctrine  from  His  mouth.  It  was  compiled 
long  after  His  death.  Some  things  in  it  might  have  been 
handed  down  inaccurately.  The  whole  was  written  in  a 
strange  language  difficult  to  understand.  Even  the  great- 
est intelligence  incurred  the  liability  of  misconstruction 
unless  the  grace  of  God  illumined  the  commentator  even 
as  it  had  illumined  the  apostles.  The  old  Church  had 
found  a  short  remedy,  the  sacrament  of  the  priestly  office 
gave  the  required  illumination,  nay,  the  holy  father  even 
claimed  the  divine  power  of  deciding  the  right,  although 
his  will  might  be  in  conflict  with  the  Scriptures.  The  re- 
former had  nothing  but  his  feeble  human  knowledge  and 
his  prayer. 

First,  it  was  inevitable  that  he  must  employ  his  rea- 
son ;  even  towards  Holy  Writ  a  certain  amount  of  criti- 
cism was  necessary.  It  did  not  remain  hidden  from  Lu- 
ther that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  of  differ- 
ent value ;  it  is  known  that  he  did  not  esteem  Revelation 
very  highly,  and  that  the  Epistle  of  James  was  held  by 
him  to  be  an  "epistle  of  straw."  But  his  opposition  to 
details  never  made  him  doubt  the  whole.  Immovable 
stood  his  faith  that  the  Holy  Scripture,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  books,  contained  divine  revelation  down  to 
the  word  and  the  letter.  It  was  to  him  the  dearest  thing 
on  earth,  the  foundation  of  all  his  knowledge ;  he  so  com- 
pletely entered  into  it  that  he  lived  amidst  its  figures  as 
in  the  present.  The  more  threatening  the  feeling  of  his 
responsibility,  the  more  ardent  the  fervor  with  which  he 
clung  to  the  Scripture.  And  a  strong  instinct  for  the  ra- 
tional and  expedient  helped  him  to  surmount  man^'  dan- 
gers,  his   shrewdness  had    nothing   of   the   hairsplitting 


PROBLEMS  AND  TASKS.  85 

sophistry  of  tlie  old  teachers ;  lie  despised  unnecessary 
subtleties,  and,  with  admirable  tact,  would  willingly  leave 
undetermined  what  appeared  unessential.  But  unless  he 
would  become  either  infidel  or  insane,  nothing  was  left 
but  to  base  the  new  doctrine  on  words  and  conditions  of 
civilisation  which  had  life  fifteen  hundred  years  before  his 
time.  And  yet  in  some  cases  he  became  a  victim  of  that 
which  his  opponent  Eck  called  the  black  letter. 

Under  such  compelling  influences  his  method  was 
formed.  If  he  had  a  question  to  solve,  he  collected  all 
those  passages  of  the  Scripture  which  seemed  to  contain 
an  answer;  he  tried  searchingly  to  understand  each  pas- 
sage in  its  context,  then  drew  the  sum  of  them.  That  in 
which  they  agreed  was  placed  in  advance ;  where  they  de- 
viated from  one  another  he  modestly  tried  to  find  a  solu- 
tion that  united  even  the  conflicting  things.  The  result 
he  fixed  inwardly  among  temptations,  by  fervent  prayer. 

With  such  a  procedure  he  was  bound,  at  times,  to  ar- 
rive at  results  that  could  be  contested  even  by  the  ordi- 
nary human  understanding.  When  he  undertook,  in  1522, 
for  instance,  to  place  marriage  on  a  new  moral  foundation 
from  the  Scriptures,  the  reason  and  needs  of  the  people 
were  certainly  on  his  side  in  subjecting  to  a  sharp  analy- 
sis the  eighteen  grounds  of  the  spiritual  law  for  preventing 
or  dissolving  marriage,  and  condemning  the  improper  fa- 
vor shown  to  the  rich  over  the  poor.  But  it  was,  never- 
theless, odd  if  Luther  tried  to  prove  from  the  Bible  alone 
what  degrees  of  relationship  were  allowed  or  prohibited, 
especially  as  he  also  referred  to  the  Old  Testament  in 
which  several  peculiar  marriages  were  concluded  without 
contradiction  from  old  Jehovah.     Without  a  doubt,  God 


86  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

had  permitted  his  chosen  ones  repeatedly  to  have  two 
wives. 

It  was  the  same  method  that  in  1529,  during  the  ne- 
gotiations with  the  followers  of  Zwingli,  made  him  so 
stubborn,  at  the  time  when  he  wrote  on  the  table  in  front 
of  him  "  this  is  my  body,"  and  looked  with  a  dark  frown 
upon  the  tears  and  the  outstretched  hands  of  Zwingli. 

Never  was  he  more  narrow,  yet  never  more  mighty ; 
a  terrible  man  who  had  wrung  his  convictions  from  doubt 
and  the  Devil  by  the  most  violent  inward  struggles.  It 
was  an  imperfect  process,  and  his  adversaries  directed 
their  attacks  upon  it  not  without  success.  With  it  his  doc- 
trine underwent  the  fate  of  all  human  wisdom.  But  in 
this  method  there  was  also  a  strong  spiritual  process  in 
which  his  own  reason,  the  culture  and  popular  needs  of 
his  time  were  asserted  more  powerfully  than  he  himself 
suspected.  And  it  became  the  starting-point  from  which 
conscientious  research  has  worked  up  to  the  highest  spir- 
itual liberty. 

Together  with  this  great  trial  there  came  to  the  ex- 
iled monk  on  the  Wartburg  smaller  temptations  ;  he  had 
long  since,  by  almost  superhuman  mental  activity,  over- 
come those  things  which,  as  impulses  of  the  senses,  were 
looked  upon  with  great  suspicion ;  now  nature  reasserted 
itself  vigorously',  and  he  repeatedly  asks  jMelanchthon  to 
pray  for  him  on  that  score. 

At  this  particular  juncture,  fate  ordained  that  the 
restless  mind  of  Karlstadt  at  Wittenberg  should  take  up 
the  question  of  the  marriage  of  priests,  and  in  an  essaj^ 
on  celibacy  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  priests  and 
monks  were  not  bound  by  the  vow  of  celibac3^     The  men 


PROBLEMS  AND  TASKS.  S7 

of  Wittenberg  generally  assented,  first  Melanchtlion,  who 
was  least  hampered  in  regard  to  this  question,  never  hav- 
ing himself  been  consecrated  and  having  been  married  for 
two  years.  Thus  there  were  thrown  into  Luther's  soul 
from  without  thoughts  and  moral  problems  the  threads  of 
which  were  destined  to  stretch  over  his  entire  subsequent 
life.  What  of  genuine  joy  and  worldly  happiness  was 
vouchsafed  to  him  thereafter  depended  upon  the  answer  he 
found  for  this  question.  What  made  it  possible  for  him  to 
endure  the  later  years  was  the  happiness  of  his  home ;  from 
that  point  the  flower  of  his  rich  heart  was  destined  to  un- 
fold. So  mercifully  did  fate  at  that  particular  time  send 
to  the  lonely  one  the  message  which  was  to  link  him 
afresh  and  more  closely  with  his  people. 

And  his  treatment  of  this  question  again  is  charac- 
teristic. His  devout  soul  and  the  conservative  feature  of 
his  entire  nature  rebelled  against  the  hasty  and  superfi- 
cial manner  of  Karlstadt's  argument.  It  is  safe  to  assume 
that  many  of  the  very  things  which  he  felt  within  himself 
made  him  suspicious  whether  the  Devil  was  not  using  this 
delicate  question  to  tempt  the  children  of  God.  And  3^et, 
just  at  that  time  during  his  imprisonment,  he  felt  extreme 
pity  for  the  poor  monks  in  the  restraint  of  the  monastery. 
He  searched  the  Scriptures :  the  marriage  of  priests  was 
easily  disposed  of.  But  of  the  monks  there  was  not  a 
word  in  the  Bible.  "The  Scripture  is  silent,  man  is  un- 
certain." 

Then  occurred  to  him  the  ridiculous  notion  that  his 
own  closest  friends  might  marry,  and  he  wrote  to  the  cau- 
tious Spalatin  :  "  Good  God,  our  Wittenberg  friends  want 
to  give  wives  to  the  monks,  tool     Well,  they  shall  not 


88  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

hang  one  about  my  neck,"  and  lie  warns  him  ironically: 
*'  Take  good  care  that  you  do  not  yourself  marry."  But 
the  problem  occupied  him  continually,  nevertheless.  A 
man  lives  fast  in  such  great  times.  Gradually,  by  Me- 
lanchthon's  argument,  and,  we  may  assume,  after  fervent 
prayer,  he  arrived  at  certainty.  What  turned  the  scale, 
though  unconsciously  to  him,  was  the  final  conclusion 
that  it  had  become  rational  and  necessary  for  a  better 
moral  foundation  of  social  life,  to  open  the  monaster- 
ies. Nearly  three  months  he  had  wrestled  with  the  ques- 
tion ;  on  November  1,  1521,  he  wrote  the  above-mentioned 
letter  to  his  father. 

The  effect  of  his  words  upon  the  people  was  bej^ond 
measure ;  everywhere  there  was  a  stir  in  the  corridors ; 
from  nearly  all  monastery  gates  slipped  monks  and  nuns ; 
at  first  singly,  in  clandestine  flight ;  soon,  whole  monas- 
teries disbanded. 

In  the  following  spring,  when  Luther,  with  greater 
care  in  his  heart,  returned  to  Wittenberg,  the  runaway 
nuns  and  monks  caused  him  much  trouble.  Secret  let- 
ters were  forwarded  to  him  from  all  parts,  frequently  from 
excited  nuns  who,  when  children,  had  been  sent  to  con- 
vents by  hard-hearted  parents  and  now,  without  mone}^ 
or  protection,  sought  the  help  of  the  great  reformer.  It 
was  not  unnatural  that  they  crowded  to  Wittenberg. 
There  came  nine  nuns  from  the  aristocratic  convent  of 
Nimbschen,  among  them  a  Staupitz,  two  Zeschaus,  and 
Catharine  of  Bora ;  again  there  were  sixteen  nuns  to  be 
cared  for,  and  so  on.  He  pitied  the  poor  people  ver^^ 
much ;  he  wrote  in  their  behalf,  and  ran  around  to  place 
them  in  resx^ectable  families. 


PROBLEMS  AND  TASKS.  89 

At  times,  tliere  was  too  mucli  of  it  for  Him,  tlie 
throngs  of  escaped  monks  molesting  him  particularly. 
He  complains :  ' '  They  want  to  marry  at  once  and  are 
the  most  unskilful  men  for  any  work."  By  his  bold  solu- 
tion of  a  difficult  question  he  gave  great  offence ;  he  had 
painful  sensations  himself,  for  while  among  those  who 
were  returning  to  civil  society  in  a  tumult  there  were 
high-minded  men,  there  were  also  coarse  and  bad  ones. 
But  all  those  things  did  not  confuse  him  for  a  moment. 
It  was  his  way  that  opposition  only  made  him  more 
resolute. 

When  in  1524  he  published  the  story  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  a  nun,  Florentina  of  Oberweimar,  he  repeated  in 
the  dedication  what  he  had  preached  so  often :  "  God  often 
proclaims  in  the  Scriptures  that  he  wants  no  enforced  ser- 
vice and  no  one  shall  become  His  unless  he  do  so  wil- 
lingly and  lovingly.  God  help  us !  Why  should  we  be 
so  unreasonable?  Should  we  not  use  our  understanding 
and  our  ears?  I  say  it  again,  God  wants  no  enforced  ser- 
vice ;  I  say  it  a  third  time,  I  say  it  a  hundred  thousand 
times,  God  wants  no  enforced  service." 

Thus  Luther  entered  the  last  period  of  his  life.  His 
disappearance  in  the  Thuringian  forest  had  caused  tre- 
mendous excitement.  The  adversaries  trembled  at  the 
wrath  which  arose  in  the  cities  and  in  the  country  against 
those  who  were  called  his  murderers.  But  the  interrup- 
tion of  his  public  activity  was  fatal  to  him,  notwithstand- 
ing. As  long  as  he  was  at  Wittenberg,  the  centre  of  the 
fight,  his  work,  his  pen  had  ruled  with  overshadowing 
power  over  the  great  movement  of  the  spirits  in  South 


90  MAF.TIN  LUTHER. 

and  Nortli,  now  tlie  movement  worked  arbitrarily  in  dif- 
ferent directions,  in  many  heads. 

One  of  the  oldest  companions  of  Luther  began  the 
confusion,  Wittenberg  itself  became  the  scene  of  an  ad- 
venturous movement,  and  Luther  could  tarry  no  longer 
in  the  Wartburg.  Once  before  he  had  been  in  Witten- 
berg secretly,  now  he  returned  there  publicly,  against  the 
wishes  of  the  Prince-Elector.  And  then  he  began  a  heroic 
struggle  against  old  friends  and  against  the  conclusions 
drawn  from  his  own  teachings.  His  work  was  more  than 
that  of  a  man.  He  fulminated  unremittingly  from  the  pul- 
pit, in  the  study  his  pen  was  flying.  But  he  was  unable  to 
bring  back  every  apostate  mind,  he  himself  could  not  pre- 
vent the  mob  in  the  cities  from  raging  with  rude  irrever- 
ence against  institutions  of  the  old  Church  and  against 
hated  persons,  the  excitement  of  the  people  from  causing 
political  storms,  the  knight  from  rising  against  the  prince, 
the  peasant  against  the  knight.  And  what  was  more,  he 
could  not  prevent  the  spiritual  liberty  which  he  had  ob- 
tained for  himself  and  others  frcm  producing  in  pious  and 
learned  men  an  independent  judgment  with  regard  to  faith 
and  life,  a  judgment  conflicting  with  his  own  convictions. 
There  came  the  stormy  years  of  iconoclasm,  of  anabap- 
tism,  of  the  peasant  wars,  the  miserable  quarrel  about  the 
sacrament.  How  often  the  form  of  Luther  rose,  during 
that  time,  gloomy  and  mighty,  above  the  quarrelling  peo- 
ple, how  often  did  the  contrariness  of  men  and  secret 
doubts  of  his  own  fill  him  with  anxious  care  for  the  future 
of  German^' ! 

For,  in  a  savage  age,  accustomed  to  kill  with  fire  and 
sword,  this  man  conceived  those  spiritual  battles  loftier 


PROBLEMS  AND  TASKS.  91 

and  purer  than  all  else.  Any  employment  of  pliysical 
force  was  hateful  to  him  even  during  the  time  of  his 
greatest  personal  danger ;  he  would  not  be  protected  by 
his  sovereign,  nay,  he  wanted  no  human  protection  for 
his  doctrine.  He  fought  with  a  sharp  quill  against  his 
enemies,  but  the  only  pyre  which  he  lighted  was  for  a 
paper;  he  hated  the  Pope  as  he  did  the  Devil,  but  he  al- 
ways preached  peace  and  Christian  tolerance  towards  pa- 
pists ;  he  suspected  many  of  being  in  secret  league  with 
the  Devil,  but  he  never  burned  a  witch.  In  all  Catholic 
countries  the  fires  blazed  over  those  who  professed  the  new 
faith,  even  Hutten  was  strongly  suspected  of  having  cut 
off  the  ears  of  some  monks  ;  Luther  had  hearty  compassion 
for  the  humiliated  Tetzel,  and  wrote  him  a  letter  of  con- 
solation.    So  humane  was  his  sentiment. 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  COMPLICATIONS. 


OBEDIENCE  to  the  authorities  as  being  instituted 
by  God  was  Luther's  main  political  principle  ;  only 
when  the  service  of  his  God  demanded  it  did  contradiction 
blaze  up.  On  his  departure  from  Worms  he  was  ordered 
not  to  preach,  he  who  had  just  been  outlawed.  But  while 
he  did  not  allow  his  preaching  to  lag,  the  honest  man 
was  still  filled  with  fear  that  it  might  be  construed  as  dis- 
obedience. His  conception  of  the  constitution  of  the  em- 
pire was  still  quite  ancient  and  quite  popular.  As  the  sub- 
ject must  obey  the  authorities,  so  the  princes  and  electors 
must  obey  the  Emperor  according  to  the  law  of  the  em- 
pire. 

In  the  person  of  Charles  V.  he  took  a  human  interest 
throughout  his  life,  not  alone  during  that  early  time  when 
he  greeted  him  as  the  "  dear,  sweet  youth,"  but  even  later, 
when  he  knew  well  that  the  Spanish  Burgundian  allowed 
the  German  Reformation  no  more  than  political  tolera- 
tion. "  He  is  pious  and  quiet  "  ;  said  he  of  the  Emperor, 
' '  he  speaks  in  a  year  not  so  much  as  I  do  in  a  day ;  he  is 
a  child  of  fortune."  He  readily  praised  the  Emperor's 
moderation,  modesty,  and  forbearance.  When  he  had  be- 
gun to  condemn  the  policy  of  the  Emperor,  and  in  secret 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  COMPLICATIONS.  93 

mistrusted  liis  character,  lie  took  care  that  among  the 
guests  of  his  table  the  ruler  of  the  empire  was  spoken  of 
reverentially,  and  said  to  the  younger  ones  apologetically  : 
^'A  politician  cannot  be  so  candid  as  we  clergymen." 

As  late  as  1530  it  was  his  opinion  that  it  was  wrong 
on  the  part  of  the  Prince-Elector  to  resist  the  Emperor 
with  armed  force;  it  was  1537  before  he  reluctantly  sub- 
mitted to  the  freer  view  of  his  circle — but  still  the  en- 
dangered prince  must  not  begin  the  attack.  So  vivid 
remained  in  the  man  of  the  people  the  time-honored  tra- 
dition of  a  firm,  well-organised,  federated  state  at  a  time 
when  the  proud  structure  of  the  old  Saxon  and  Prankish 
emperors  was  crumbling  so  fast. 

Yet  in  such  loyalty  to  the  empire  there  was  not  a 
trace  of  a  slavish  disposition ;  when  his  sovereign  once  in- 
duced him  to  write  a  letter  intended  for  publication,  his 
veracity  rebelled  against  the  address  to  the  Emperor, 
"most  gracious  lord,"  saying  the  Emperor  was  not  gra- 
ciously disposed  towards  him.  And  in  his  frequent  in- 
tercourse with  the  nobility  he  showed  a  reckless  candor 
which  more  than  once  became  terrible  to  the  courtiers. 
He  told  his  own  sovereign  the  truth,  in  all  humility,  in 
such  a  manner  as  only  a  great  character  dared  and  only  a 
good-hearted  one  could  listen  to. 

On  the  whole,  he  thought  little  of  the  German  princes, 
however  much  he  esteemed  some  individually.  Frequent 
and  just  are  his  complaints  of  their  incapacity,  their  licen- 
tiousness, their  vices.  He  also  liked  to  speak  of  the 
nobility  with  irony ;  the  awkwardness  of  most  of  them  dis- 
pleased him  exceedingly.  And  he  felt  a  democratic  aver- 
sion for  the  hard  and  selfish  lawyers  who  carried  on  the 


94  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

business  of  the  princes,  striving  for  favor  and  tormenting 
the  poor  people;  lie  opened  to  the  best  of  them  only  a 
very  doubtful  prospect  of  the  grace  of  God. 

On  the  other  hand,  his  whole  heart  was  with  the  op- 
pressed ;  he  sometimes  scolded  the  peasants,  their  stub- 
bornness, their  greed  in  selling  grain,  but  he  also  often 
praised  their  class,  looked  with  hearty  compassion  on  their 
burdens  and  remembered  that  he  originally  was  one  of 
them. 

But  all  those  things  were  of  the  temporal  govern- 
ment ;  he  was  in  the  service  of  the  spiritual.  The  popu- 
lar view  was  firmly  entrenched  in  his  mind  that  two 
governing  powers  must  rule  the  people  side  by  side,  the 
power  of  the  Church  and  the  force  of  the  princes.  And  he 
was  amply  justified  in  proudlj''  contrasting  his  province  of 
duties  and  rights  with  temporal  politics.  In  his  spiritual 
domain  there  was  public  spirit,  self-sacrifice,  a  wealth  of 
ideal  life ;  in  the  temporal  government  he  found  every- 
where narrow  self-seeking,  robbery,  fraud,  and  weakness. 
He  angrily  contended  that  the  authorities  should  not  pre- 
sume to  direct  what  belonged  to  the  minister  and  the  au- 
tonomy of  his  congregation.  He  judged  all  politics  from 
the  interest  of  his  creed  according  to  the  law  of  the  Bible. 
Where  the  word  of  the  Scripture  seemed  to  him  to  be  en- 
dangered by  temporal  politics  he  raised  his  voice,  reck- 
ing not  whom  it  hurt. 

It  was  not  his  fault  that  he  was  strong  and  the  princes 
were  weak,  and  no  reproach  can  attach  to  him,  the  monk, 
the  professor,  the  minister,  if  the  league  of  Protestant 
princes  stood  helpless  in  the  face  of  the  shrewd  diplomacy 
of  the  Emperor  as  a  herd  of  deer.     He  was  clearly  con- 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  COMPLICATIONS.  95 

scions  that  Italian  politics  were  not  his  affair ;  if  the  ac- 
tive Landgrave  of  Hesse,  on  one  occasion  did  not  follow 
his  spiritual  advice,  Luther  esteemed  him  all  the  more  for 
it  in  secret.  "  He  has  a  head  of  his  own,  he  is  success- 
ful, he  has  an  understanding  of  worldly  affairs." 

Since  Luther's  return  to  Wittenberg  a  flood  of  de- 
mocracy was  roaring  among  the  people.  Luther  had 
opened  the  monasteries,  now  there  was  a  demand  for  the 
adjustment  of  other  social  evils,  the  distress  of  the  peas- 
ants, the  church  tithes,  the  traffic  in  benefices,  the  bad 
administration  of  the  law.  Luther's  honest  heart  sympa- 
thised with  this  movement.  He  admonished  and  scolded 
the  landlords  and  princes.  But  when  the  wild  floods  of 
the  peasant  wars  began  to  deluge  his  work,  when  their 
bloody  violence  outraged  his  soul  and  he  felt  that  visiona- 
ries and  rioters  exercised  sway  over  the  bands  of  peas- 
ants and  threatened  extinction  to  his  teachings,  he  hurled 
himself  against  the  rude  masses  in  the  highest  wrath. 
Fierce  and  warlike  sounded  his  appeal  to  the  princes,  the 
thing  most  horrible  to  him  had  happened,  the  gospel  of 
love  was  disgraced  by  the  arbitrary  insolence  of  those 
who  called  themselves  his  adherents. 

His  policy  was  the  true  one  in  this  point,  also ;  there 
was  in  Germany,  unfortunately,  no  better  power  than 
that  of  the  princes ;  on  them  rested,  in  spite  of  all,  the  fu- 
ture of  the  fatherland.  Neither  the  serf  peasantry,  nor 
the  robber  knights,  nor  the  disunited  imperial  cities  stand- 
ing like  islands  in  the  roaring  billows,  afforded  any  guar- 
anty. He  was  quite  right  in  the  matter,  but  the  same 
hard-headed,  inflexible  nature  which  up  to  that  time  had 
made  his  fights  against  the  hierarchy  so  popular,  was  now 


96  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

turned  against  tlie  people  itself.  A  cry  of  amazement  and 
horror  ran  througli  the  masses.  He  was  a  traitor.  He 
who  for  eight  years  had  been  the  favorite  and  hero  of  the 
people  became  suddenly  the  faithless,  most  hated  man. 
Again  his  safety  and  his  life  were  threatened ;  even  five 
years  later  it  was  dangerous  for  him,  on  account  of  the 
peasants,  to  travel  to  Mansfeld  to  his  sick  father.  The 
fury  of  the  masses  also  worked  against  his  doctrine,  the 
hedge-preachers  and  the  new  apostles  treated  him  as  a 
lost,  depraved  man.  He  was  excommunicated,  he  was 
outlawed,  he  was  cursed  by  the  people. 


LUTHER'S  WIFE.     (After  Lucas  Cranach.) 


LUTHER'S  MARRIAGE. 


MANY  well-meaning  men  had  disapproved  liis  assault 
on  celibacy  and  convent  life.  The  country  noble- 
men threatened  to  seize  the  outlaw  in  the  highway  because 
he  had  destroyed  the  nunneries  into  which,  as  in  found- 
lings' homes,  the  legitimate  children  of  the  poor  nobility 
were  thrown  in  early  youth.  The  Roman  party  triumphed, 
the  new  heresy  was  deprived  of  that  which  had  made  it 
powerful  up  to  that  time.  Luther's  life  and  doctrine 
seemed  to  be  doomed  to  destruction. 

At  this  juncture,  Luther  decided  to  marry. 

For  two  years,  Catharine  von  Bora  had  lived  in  the 
house  of  the  city  clerk,  afterwards  Mayor  Reichenbach  of 
Wittenberg,  a  strong,  stately  girl;  like  many  others,  the 
forsaken  daughter  of  a  family  belonging  to  the  country  no- 
bility of  Meissen.  Twice  Luther  had  endeavored  to  se- 
cure a  husband  for  her,  as  he  had,  with  paternal  care, 
done  for  several  of  her  associates.  At  last  Catharine  de- 
clared she  would  marry  no  man  unless  Luther  himself  or 
his  friend  Amsdorf. 

Luther  was  astonished,  but  he  decided  quickly.  Ac- 
companied by  Lucas  Cranach,  he  asked  for  her  hand  and 
was  married  on  the  spot.     Then  he  invited  his  friends  to 


98  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

the  wedding  dinner,  asked  at  court  for  tHe  venison  which 
the  sovereign  was  wont  to  present  to  his  professors  at 
weddings,  and  received  the  table  wine  as  a  wedding  pres- 
ent from  the  city  of  Wittenberg. 

Luther's  mind  at  that  time  is  a  curious  study.  His 
entire  being  was  at  the  highest  tension,  the  wild  primitive 
power  of  his  nature  worked  in  all  directions ;  he  was 
shaken  to  his  inmost  depths  by  the  misery  of  burned  vil- 
lages and  the  bodies  of  the  slain  which  he  saw  all  about 
him.  Had  he  been  a  fanatic  in  his  ideas  he  might  have 
ended,  then,  in  despair.  But  above  the  stormy  unrest 
which  is  perceptible  in  him  up  to  his  marriage,  there 
shone  to  him  like  a  pure  light,  just  at  that  time,  the  con- 
viction that  he  was  the  guardian  of  divine  right,  and  in 
order  to  defend  civil  order  and  morals  it  was  for  him  to 
lead  the  opinions  of  men,  not  to  follow  them. 

However  violently  he  declaimed  in  special  things,  he 
appears  particularly  conservative  at  this  particular  time, 
more  firmly  resolved  within  himself  than  ever.  Besides, 
it  is  true,  he  was  of  opinion  that  he  was  not  destined  to 
live  much  longer,  and  during  many  hours  he  longingly 
awaited  martyrdom.  Thus  he  was  in  perfect  accord  with 
himself  when  he  concluded  his  marriage.  He  had  con- 
vinced himself  completely  of  the  necessity  and  scriptural 
propriety  of  marriage ;  for  the  last  few  years  he  had  urged 
all  his  acquaintances  to  marry,  finally  even  an  old  oppo- 
nent, the  Archbishop  of  Ma3'ence. 

He  gives  two  reasons  himself  that  influenced  him  in 
his  determination  to  marry.  He  had  deprived  his  father 
of  his  son  for  many  years,  it  was  to  him  like  an  atone- 
ment to  leave  to  old  Hans  a  grandson  when  he  should  die. 


Luther's  marriage.  99 

There  was  also  defiance;  tlie  adversaries  triumplied  that 
Luther  was  humiliated  and  all  the  world  was  offended  at 
him  ;  he  wanted  to  give  them  still  more  offence  in  his  good 
cause. 

His  was  a  vigorous  nature,  but  there  was  in  him  not 
a  trace  of  coarse  sensuality.  And  we  may  assume  that 
the  best  reason,  which  he  confesses  to  no  friend,  was, 
after  all,  the  decisive  one.  For  a  long  time  the  talk  of 
the  people  had  known  more  than  himself,  now  he  knew 
himself  that  Catharine  regarded  him  with  favor.  "  I  am 
not  in  love  nor  in  passion,  but  I  like  her,"  he  writes  to 
one  of  his  dearest  friends. 

And  this  marriage,  concluded  in  opposition  to  the 
opinion  of  his  contemporaries  and  the  scornful  howls  of 
his  adversaries,  became  an  alliance  to  which  we  owe  as 
much  as  to  the  3^ears  when  he,  a  clergyman  of  the  old 
Church,  had  borne  arms  for  his  theological  convictions. 
For,  from  that  time  a  husband,  father,  and  citizen,  he  be- 
came also  the  reformer  of  the  domestic  life  of  his  nation, 
and  those  very  blessings  emanating  from  his  days  on 
earth,  in  which  Protestants  and  Catholics  to-day  have  an 
equal  share,  came  from  the  marriage  between  an  excom- 
municated monk  and  a  runawa}^  nun. 

For  he  was  destined  to  work  twenty-one  laborious 
years  more  in  developing  his  nation,  and  his  greatest 
work,  the  translation  of  the  Bible,  was  finished  during 
that  time ;  in  this  work,  which  he  completed  in  companj^ 
with  his  friends  of  Wittenberg,  he  acquired  the  fullest 
control  over  the  language  of  the  people,  which  by  this 
work,  for  the  first  time,  developed  its  wealth  and  power. 

We   know   with   what   grand   purpose  he   undertook 


100  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

that  work,  lie  wanted  to  create  a  book  for  tke  people,  lie 
industriously  studied  forms  of  speech,  proverbs,  and  tech- 
nical terms  living  in  the  mouth  of  the  people.  The  Hu- 
manists often  wTote  an  awkward  involved  style  with  un- 
wieldy sentences,  a  degenerate  reminiscence  of  the  Latin 
style.  Now,  the  nation  received  for  daily  reading  a  work 
expressing  in  simple  words  the  most  profound  wisdom 
and  the  best  spiritual  treasures  of  the  time. 

Together  with  the  other  works  of  Luther,  the  Bible 
became  the  foundation  of  the  New-German  language. 
And  this  language  in  which  our  whole  literature  and 
spiritual  life  found  its  expression,  has  become  an  inde- 
structible possession  which  even  in  the  saddest  times, 
and  though  disfigured  and  defaced,  has  yet  served  to  re- 
mind the  several  German  tribes  that  the}^  are  one.  And 
even  at  the  present  time  the  language  of  culture,  poe- 
try, and  science  which  Luther  created  is  the  bond  that 
holds  together  all  German  minds  in  union. 

Nor  did  Luther  render  less  important  services  for  the 
civil  life  of  the  Germans.  Domestic  devotion,  marriage, 
and  education  of  children,  municipal  life  and  school  affairs, 
manners,  recreations,  all  sentiments  of  the  heart,  all  social 
pleasures  were  consecrated  by  his  teachings  and  writings. 
Everywhere  he  strove  to  set  new  goals  and  to  lay  deeper 
foundations.  Not  a  department  of  human  duty  about 
which  he  did  not  compel  the  people  to  reflect.  His  influ- 
ence spread  far  and  wide  among  the  people  bj^  his  nu- 
merous sermons  and  short  writings,  and  also  by  countless 
letters  in  which  he  gave  advice  and  consolation  to  special 
inquirers. 

If  he  urged  his  contemporaries  unremittingly  to  ex- 


Luther's  marriage.  101 

amine  wlietlier  a  desire  of  the  heart  was  justified  or  not, 
what  the  father  owed  to  the  child,  the  subject  to  the  au- 
thorities, the  councilman  to  the  citizens;  the  progress 
made  through  him  was  so  great  for  the  reason  that  here 
also  he  emancipated  the  conscience  of  the  individual  and 
substituted  everywhere  spiritual  self-control  in  place  of 
external  compulsion  against  which  selfishness  had  previ- 
ously defiantly  rebelled.  How  finely  he  comprehended 
the  necessity  of  developing  children  by  school  education, 
especially  in  the  dead  languages,  how  warmly  he  recom- 
mended his  beloved  music  for  introduction  in  the  schools, 
how  great  his  foresight  became  when  he  admonished  the 
councilmen  to  found  public  libraries.  And  again,  how 
conscientiously  he  sought  to  secure  rights  for  the  hearts 
of  lovers  in  engagements  and  marriages,  as  against  hard 
parental  authorit}".  His  horizon,  it  is  true,  was  bounded 
by  the  words  of  the  Scripture,  but  ever  through  his 
preaching,  action,  scolding,  there  sounds  the  beautiful 
keynote  of  his  broadly  human  nature,  the  need  of  liberty 
and  courtesy,  of  love  and  morality'.  He  overthrew  the 
old  sacrament  of  marriage  but  he  shaped  more  highly, 
nobly,  freely  the  spiritual  relations  between  husband  and 
wife.  He  attacked  the  clumsy  convent  schools,  and  every- 
where in  village  and  citj^  wherever  his  influence  reached, 
better  institutions  of  culture  for  the  youth  grew  up.  He 
abolished  the  mass  and  Latin  church  h}- mns ;  in  return, 
he  gave  the  regular  sermon  and  the  church  hymn  to  both 
admirers  and  opponents. 

The  great  importance  which  Luther's  teaching  ac- 
quired not  only  in  the  heart  of  the  people  but  in  the  po- 
litical affairs  of  the  empire  became  apparent  in  Luther's 


102  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

life  as  early  as  nine  years  after  tlie  days  of  Worms. 
At  Worms  lie  was  looked  upon  as  a  solitary,  damnable 
heretic  with  whose  death  the  dangerous,  false  doctrine 
would  cease  In  1530  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  the  princes 
and  estates  of  the  Empire  who  had  renounced  their  ad- 
herence to  the  old  Church,  submitted  to  the  Emperor  a 
confession  of  faith  which  became  the  basis  of  a  secure 
political  position  for  Protestantism.  In  spite  of  all  the 
clauses  appended,  it  w^as  in  fact  the  first  treaty  of  peace 
which  the  victorious  new  doctrine  concluded  with  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire. 

It  was  a  strange  dispensation  that  honest  Luther,  as 
he  had  done  at  the  Wartburg  in  years  gone  by,  once 
more  awaited  the  result  in  hiding  at  another  fortified 
place  of  his  sovereign,  the  fortress  of  Coburg,  in  the 
dress  and  with  the  beard  of  a  knight,  and  once  more  he 
dated  his  letters  mysteriously  from  the  wilderness,  or 
from  the  kingdom  of  the  birds,  encouraging  Melanchthon 
to  remain  steadfast.  For,  while  his  friends  and  fellow- 
laborers  were  engaged  in  composing  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg,  he  who  was  still  an  outlaw  could  not  be  led 
into  the  hands  of  Catholic  lords  or  under  the  eyes  of  the 
Emperor  who  had  outlawed  him. 

This  sentence  of  outlawry  of  1521  had,  however,  lost 
its  force.  A  few  months  after  it  had  been  pronounced,  the 
growing  excitement  of  the  people  and  the  immoderate  zeal 
of  other  malcontents  forced  the  enemies  of  Luther  to  ad- 
mit that  it  would  be  very  fortunate  if  Luther,  who  had  dis- 
appeared, were  still  alive.  Since  that  time  he  had  risen 
against  the  socialistic  agitation  among  the  people  with 
equal  might  as  against  poper^^ ;  and  by  the  magic  of  his 


Luther's  marriage.  103 

strong  cliaracter  as  well  as  the  wealth  of  his  soulful  senti- 
ment lie  had  done  so  much  for  law  and  order  among  the 
people  that  even  his  adversaries  felt  some  of  the  good 
effects. 

He  had  met  with  great  successes,  but  at  the  same 
time  he  found  the  limits  of  his  influence.  At  Worms  he 
was  the  only  one,  the  true  representative  of  the  popular 
conscience  and  the  spiritual  leader  of  the  whole  power- 
ful movement  which  was  rising  in  the  people.  In  1530 
he  was  the  head  and  leader  of  a  great  party,  but  only  a 
party,  beside  which  other  factions  and  parties  were  aris- 
ing. Even  within  the  old  Church  the  respect  for  pub- 
lic opinion  had  become  greater,  and  faith  was  more  sin- 
cere and  heartfelt.  Beside  Luther's,  the  teachings  of 
Zwingli  had  also  gained  ground,  and  among  the  lower 
classes  the  ideas  of  the  Anabaptists  worked  against  him 
as  against  the  structure  of  the  old  Church. 

Nor  did  Luther  himself  escape  change.  He  was  no 
longer  the  martyr  longing  for  death,  but  the  prudent  ad- 
viser of  princes  and  a  zealous,  severe  architect  of  his  new 
Church.  And  the  man  who  at  the  Wartburg  wrestled  in 
scruples  of  conscience  over  the  celibacy  of  monks,  was 
writing  not  only  explanations  of  Biblical  texts  but  loving 
letters,  full  of  good  humor,  to  his  own  home,  to  the  com- 
panions of  his  table,  and  to  his  little  son,  about  the  diet 
of  jack-daws  that  crowded  around  the  towers  of  the  fortress 
of  Coburg,  and  about  a  beautiful  heavenly  garden  in 
which  pious  children  sing  and  play,  ride  horses  with 
golden  reins,  and  shoot  with  the  crossbow.  The  apostle 
of  the  new  gospel  became  a  great  spiritual  paterfamilias 
to  the  people. 


LUTHER'S  PRIVATE  LIFE. 


AS  THE  YEARS  advanced,  Luther  felt  ever  more 
keenly  the  divine  nature  of  all  that  the  world  of- 
fered which  was  sweet,  good,  and  hearty.  In  that  sense 
he  was  always  pious  and  always  wise,  both  out  in  nature 
and  in  his  innocent  pleasantry  with  his  companions,  while 
teasing  his  wife,  or  holding  his  children  in  his  arms.  Full 
of  joy  at  its  splendor  he  stood  before  a  tree  hanging  full 
of  fruit :  "If  iVdam  had  not  fallen,  we  should  always  have 
admired  all  trees."  Astonished,  he  took  a  big  pear  in 
his  hand:  "Lo,  six  months  ago  it  was  lower  under  the 
ground  than  it  is  long  and  big  now,  and  was  hidden  in 
the  extreme  end  of  the  root.  These  minute  and  least  ob- 
served creatures  are  the  greatest  wonders.  God  is  in  the 
smallest  creature,  as  in  the  leaf  of  a  tree  or  a  blade  of 
grass." 

Two  little  birds  made  a  nest  in  Dr.  Luther's  garden 
and  flew  home  in  the  evening,  often  frightened  by  pas- 
sers-by;  he  called  to  them:  "Oh,  3^ou  dear  little  birds, 
do  not  fly  away,  I  love  you  with  all  my  heart  if  you 
could  only  believe  me.  But  thus  we  also  lack  faith  in 
our  God." 

He  took  great  pleasure  in  the  company  of  honest  men  ; 


1  n  miim^  ■ 


LUTHER  PRAYING  FOR  MELANCHTHON'S  LIFE.     (After  Gustav  Konig.) 


Luther's  private  life.  105 

he  tlien  drank  wine  merrily,  and  tlie  conversation  coursed 
lively  over  big  things  and  small.  He  judged  with  splen- 
did humor  his  enemies  and  acquaintances,  laughed  and 
told  merry  stories,  and  when  he  got  into  discussions  would 
rub  his  hands  over  his  knee,  which  gesture  was  peculiar  to 
him.  Often  he  would  sing  to  himself,  play  the  lute,  or  di- 
rect a  chorus.  Whatever  made  men  honorably  merry  was 
pleasing  to  him,  his  favorite  art  was  music;  he  judged 
leniently  of  dancing  and — fifty  years  before  Shakespeare 
— spoke  benevolently  of  comedy,  for  he  said  that  it  teaches 
like  a  mirror  how  each  should  conduct  himself. 

When  he  sat  together  with  Melanchthon,  it  was  Mas- 
ter Philip,  the  mild,  the  scholar,  who  would  add  a  wise 
qualification  to  the  too  daring  assertions  of  his  strong 
friend.  If  there  was  talk  of  rich  people  and  Frau  Cath- 
arine could  not  refrain  from  observing  longingly  :  ' '  Had 
my  lord  been  so  inclined  he  could  have  become  very 
rich,"  Melanchthon  answered  gravely:  "That  is  impos- 
sible, for  those  who  work  for  the  general  good  cannot  fol- 
low their  own  advantage." 

There  was  one  subject,  however,  about  which  the 
two  men  were  apt  to  get  into  disputes.  Melanchthon 
was  very  fond  of  astrology,  while  Luther  looked  upon 
that  science  with  sovereign  contempt.  On  the  other 
hand,  by  his  method  of  Biblical  exegesis — and  also,  by 
secret  political  cares — Luther  had  reached  the  conviction 
that  the  end  of  the  world  was  near  at  hand,  which,  again, 
appeared  very  doubtful  to  the  learned  Melanchthon.  So, 
when  Melanchthon  began  to  speak  about  celestial  signs 
and  aspects  and  explained  Luther's  successes  by  the  fact 
that  he  was  born  under  the  sign  of  the  sun,  Luther  ex- 


106  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

claimed:  "I  care  not  so  mucli  about  your  Sol.  I  am  a 
peasant's  son.  My  father,  grandfather,  and  great-grand- 
father were  honest  peasants." — "Yes,"  replied  Melanch- 
thon,  "in  the  village,  too,  you  would  have  been  a  leader, 
either  chief  officer  of  the  village  or  head  farm-hand  over 
the  others." — "But,"  exclaimed  Luther  triumphantly, 
"I  have  become  a  bachelor  of  arts,  a  master,  a  monk, — 
that  was  not  written  in  the  stars ;  then  I  pulled  the 
Pope's  hair  and  he  pulled  mine,  I  took  a  nun  to  wife  and 
begat  children  with  her.  Who  saw  those  things  in  the 
stars?"  And  again  Melanchthon  continued  in  his  astro- 
logical interpretations,  beginning  about  Bmperor  Charles 
and  declared  it  was  ordained  that  he  should  die  in  1584. 
Then  Luther  burst  out  violently :  ' '  The  world  will  not 
endure  as  long  as  that.  For  if  we  beat  back  the  Turk,  the 
prophecy  of  Daniel  will  be  fulfilled  and  the  end  at  hand. 
Then  the  day  of  judgment  is  surely  at  our  doors." 

When  Melanchthon  fell  dangerously  ill,  Luther  vis- 
ited him.  On  seeing  the  signs  of  approaching  death 
in  the  face  of  his  dear  friend  and  co-worker,  Luther 
turned  toward  the  window  and  prayed  that  the  Lord 
should  spare  his  faithful  servant's  life.  Then  he  ad- 
dressed the  patient,  saying:  "Be  of  good  cheer,  Philip, 
thou  shalt  not  die!"  Melanchthon  recovered  and  Luther 
wrote  triumphantly  that  "  with  God's  help  he  would  have 
brought  the  Master  Philip  back  from  the  grave." 

How  amiable  he  is  as  the  father  of  his  family ! 
When  his  little  children  stood  at  the  table  and  looked 
longingl^^  at  the  fruit  and  peaches  he  said :  ' '  W^ho  wants 
to  see  the  image  of  one  that  is  happy  in  hope,  he  has 
here  the  true  counterfeit.      Oh,  that  we  might  behold  the 


^ 


wiiwiwiuininwiniwiiiiiiMiiiiim iiiiiiiwiiiiiiiwiiniww wmwwimiiwiiiini'jmiiiiiMiiiiiiiwiipJWii 


t 


LUTHER  AT  Till';  COFFIN   OF  HIS  DAUGHTER  MAGDALEN.     (After  Giistav  Konig.) 


Luther's  private  life.  107 

day  of  doom  tlius  merrily !  Adam  and  Eve  no  doubt  had 
mucli  better  fruit,  ours  are  mere  crab-apples  by  compari- 
son. The  serpent,  too,  I  think,  was  then  a  most  beauti- 
ful creature,  kindly  and  charming;  it  still  wears  its  little 
crown,  but  after  the  curse  it  lost  its  feet  and  its  hand- 
some body."  So  he  watched  his  little  son  of  three  years 
playing  and  talking  to  himself:  "This  child  is  like  a 
drunken  man,  it  knows  not  that  it  lives,  and  yet  it  lives 
securely  and  merrily  on,  skipping  and  jumping.  Such 
children  like  to  be  in  large  wide  apartments  where  they 
have  room."  And  he  drew  the  child  to  him:  "You  are 
our  Lord's  little  fool,  under  his  grace  and  forgiveness  of 
sins,  not  under  the  law;  you  are  not  afraid,  you  are  se- 
cure and  care  about  nothing;  as  you  act,  is  the  uncor- 
rupted  way.  Parents  are  always  fondest  of  the  youngest 
children;  my  little  Martin  is  my  dearest  treasure,  such 
little  children  require  most  the  care  and  love  of  the  par- 
ents. Hence,  the  love  of  parents  always  descends  in  the 
simplest  way.  How  must  Abraham  have  felt  when  he 
was  about  to  sacrifice  his  youngest  and  dearest  son?  He 
could  not  have  said  anything  about  it  to  Sarah.  That 
errand  must  have  been  hard  to  him." 

His  beloved  daughter  Magdalen  lay  at  the  point  of 
death,  and  he  complained:  "I  love  her  very  dearly,  but, 
dear  Lord,  since  it  is  Thy  will,  that  Thou  wilt  take  her 
hence,  I  will  gladly  know  her  to  be  with  Thee.  Mag- 
dalen, my  little  daughter,  you  would  gladly  remain  here 
with  your  father  and  you  will  also  gladly  go  to  the  Fa- 
ther beyond?"  And  the  child  said:  "Yes,  dear  father, 
as  God  wills." 

And  when  she  died,  the  father  knelt  by  the  bedside 


108  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

weeping  bitterly,  and  prayed  that  God  might  save  lier. 
And  slie  went  to  sleep  in  her  father's  arms. 

And  when  the  people  came  to  help  bury  the  body, 
and  spoke  to  the  doctor  according  to  the  custom,  he  said: 
"I  am  happy  in  the  spirit,  but  the  flesh  is  not  satisfied; 
this  parting  vexes  one  above  all  measure.  It  is  strange 
to  know  that  she  is  in  peace  and  happiness,  and  yet  to  be 
so  sad." 

His  dominus  or  lord  Catharine,  as  he  was  fond  of  call- 
ing his  wife  in  letters  to  friends,  speedily  developed  into  an 
efficient  housewife.  And  she  had  no  little  trouble.  Little 
children,  the  husband  often  ailing,  a  number  of  boarders, 
teachers  and  poor  students,  an  ever  open  house,  from 
which  scholarly  or  noble  guests  were  seldom  absent ;  and 
with  all  that,  a  scanty  household  and  a  husband  who 
would  rather  give  than  receive,  and  who,  in  his  zeal, 
on  one  occasion,  when  she  was  lying  in  childbed,  even 
took  the  silverware  given  to  the  children  by  their  god- 
parents in  order  to  give  alms.  In  1527,  Luther  was  un- 
able to  advance  eight  florins  to  his  former  prior  and 
friend  Briesger.  Sadly  he  wrote  to  him:  "Three  little 
silver  cups  (wedding  presents)  are  in  pawn  for  fifty  flo- 
rins, the  fourth  has  been  sold,  the  year  has  brought  debts 
of  one  hundred  florins.  Lucas  Cranach  refuses  to  take 
my  bail  any  longer  so  that  I  may  not  ruin  myself  com- 
pletely." 

Sometimes  Luther  declined  presents,  even  such  as 
were  offered  by  his  sovereign ;  but  it  appears  that  his  re- 
gard for  wife  and  children  instilled  in  him  some  practical 
ideas  in  later  years.  When  he  died,  his  estate  amounted, 
approximately,  to  eight  or  nine  thousand   florins,  com- 


Luther's  private  life.  109 

prising  a  little  country  place,  a  big  garden,  and  two 
houses.  It  was  surely  the  merit  of  Frau  Catharine  prin- 
cipally. 

From  the  way  in  which  Luther  treated  her  we  see 
how  happy  his  domestic  life  was.  If  he  made  allusions 
to  the  profuse  talk  of  women  he  had  little  cause,  for  he 
was  not  a  man  himself  by  any  means  that  could  be  called 
chary  of  words.  If  she  is  heartily  glad  to  be  able  to  serve 
up  all  kinds  of  fish  from  the  little  lake  in  their  garden, 
the  doctor  in  turn  is  happy  at  her  joy  and  does  not  fail  to 
append  to  it  a  pleasing  reflexion  on  the  happiness  of 
modest  wants.  Or,  if  reading  the  psalter  becomes  too 
tedious  for  her  and  she  replies  that  she  hears  enough  of 
sanctification,  that  she  reads  much  every  day  and  can 
also  speak  about  it,  but  that  God  only  wants  her  to  act 
accordingly,  the  doctor  at  this  sensible  answer  sighs: 
"So  does  dissatisfaction  with  the  word  of  God  begin, 
there  will  come  many  new  books  and  the  Scriptures  will 
be  thrown  into  the  corner  again." 

But  this  firm  relationship  of  two  good  persons  was, 
for  a  long  time,  not  without  secret  suffering.  We  can 
only  surmise  at  w^hat  was  gnawing  at  the  heart  of  the 
wife  if,  as  late  as  1527,  in  a  dangerous  illness,  Luther 
took  a  last  farewell  of  her  with  the  words  :  ' '  You  are  my 
honored  and  legitimate  wife,  so  you  shall  assuredly  es- 
teem yourself." 

Similarly  as  with  those  dear  to  him,  Luther  also 
conversed  with  the  high  powers  of  his  faith.  All  the 
good  figures  from  the  Bible  were  to  him  like  true  friends, 
his  vivid  imagination  had  shaped  their  natures  familiarly 
and  he  loved  to  picture  to  himself  their  circumstances 


110  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

witli  tlie  ingenuousness  of  a  cliild.  When  Veit  Dietricli 
asked  him  what  kind  of  a  person  the  apostle  Paul  might 
have  been,  Luther  quickly  replied:  "He  was  an  insig- 
nificant, slim  little  man  like  Philippus  Melanchthon." 
The  Virgin  Mary  was  to  him  a  graceful  picture.  "  She 
was  a  fine  girl,"  he  said  admiringly,  "she  must  have 
had  a  good  voice."  And  the  Saviour  he  loved  best  to 
imagine  as  a  child  in  the  house  of  his  parents,  carrying 
the  meal  to  the  father  in  the  wood-yard,  and  Mary  asking 
as  he  staid  too  long :  ' '  Where  have  you  been  so  long,  my 
little  one?"  The  Saviour  should  not  be  imagined  on  the 
rainbow  with  a  halo,  not  as  the  executor  of  the  law — that 
conception  is  too  lofty  and  terrible  for  man — only  as  the 
poor  sufferer  livin^j  among  sinners  and  dying  for  them. 

His  God,  also,  was  to  him,  at  all  times,  master  of 
the  house  and  father.  He  loved  to  delve  into  the  econ- 
omy of  nature.  He  indulges  in  astonished  reflexion  how 
much  wood  God  must  create.  "No  one  can  calculate 
what  God  needs  only  to  feed  the  sparrows  and  useless 
birds ;  they  cost  him  more  in  a  year  than  the  income  of 
the  King  of  France.  And  then,  think  of  all  the  other 
things." 

"God  understands  all  trades.  In  his  tailoring  he 
makes  for  the  stag  a  coat  that  lasts  a  hundred  3^ears.  As 
a  shoemaker  he  gives  him  shoes  for  his  feet,  and  in  the 
sun  he  is  a  cook." 

"  He  could  well  get  rich  if  he  desired,  if  he  stopped 
the  sun,  enclosed  the  air,  if  he  threatened  death  to  the 
Pope,  the  Emperor,  the  bishops,  and  doctors  unless  they 
paid  him  a  hundred  thousand  florins  at  once.  But  he  does 
not  do  so,  and  we  are  ungrateful  beasts," 


Luther's  private  life.  ill 

And  lie  seriously  reflects  wiiere  the  food  for  so  many 
people  comes  from.  Old  Hans  Luther  had  asserted  there 
were  more  men  than  sheaves  of  grain ;  the  doctor,  on  the 
contrary,  believed  that  more  sheaves  grew  than  men,  but 
more  men  than  shocks  of  grain ;  a  shock  yields  scarcely 
a  bushel  and  a  man  cannot  live  on  that  for  a  year. 

Even  a  heap  of  manure  invited  cordial  reflexion: 
''  God  has  to  clear  away  as  much  as  he  has  to  create.  If 
he  did  not  continually  clean  up,  men  would  long  since 
have  filled  up  the  world  with  refuse." 

And  if  God  often  punishes  the  pious  more  severely 
than  the  impious,  he  acts  like  a  serious  master  of  the 
house  who  thrashes  his  son  more  frequently  than  the 
hired  servant.  But  while  he  silently  gathers  a  treasure 
as  an  inheritance  for  the  son,  the  hired  man  is  at  last 
discharged.  And  cheerfully  he  draws  the  conclusion :  "If 
our  Lord  and  Master  can  pardon  me  for  having  vexed  him 
for  well  nigh  twenty  years  by  reading  masses,  he  can  also 
put  to  my  credit  that  at  times  I  have  quaffed  a  good  drink 
in  his  honor.     May  the  world  construe  it  as  it  pleases." 

He  also  wondered  a  great  deal  that  God  was  so 
angry  with  the  Jews.  "For  fifteen  hundred  years  they 
have  been  praying  violently,  with  earnestness  and  great 
zeal,  as  their  little  books  of  prayer  show,  and  all  through 
that  time  he  does  not  answer  them  with  a  little  word.  If 
I  could  pray  as  they  pray  I  would  give  two  hundred  flo- 
rins' worth  of  books.  It  must  be  a  great,  unutterable 
wrath.  Oh,  dear  Lord,  rather  punish  with  pestilence 
than  keep  so  silent." 

Like  a  child,  Luther  prayed  every  morning  and  even- 
ing, often  in  the  day,  even  during  meals.     Prayers  which 


112  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

Tie  knew  by  heart,  lie  repeated  again  and  again  witli  fer- 
vent devotion,  preferring  the  Lord's  Prayer ;  then  again  he 
recited  to  God  the  little  catechism ;  he  always  carried  the 
psalter  with  him,  which  served  him  as  his  book  of  prayer. 
When  he  was  in  passionate  anxiety  his  prayer  became  a 
storm,  a  wrestling  with  God,  the  power,  greatness,  and 
holy  simplicity  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  compare  with 
other  human  emotions.  At  such  times  he  was  the  son 
lying  in  despair  at  the  feet  of  his  father,  or  the  faithful 
servant  imploring  his  sovereign.  For  his  conviction  was 
unchangeable  that  it  was  possible  to  influence  the  resolu- 
tions of  God  by  prayers  and  admonitions.  And  thus  in 
his  prayer  there  is  an  alternate  outpouring  of  emotion  and 
complaint,  nay,  serious  exhortations. 


STRUGGLES  WITH  THE  DEVIL. 


AS  GOD  was  the  source  of  all  that  was  good,  so  to 
Luther  the  Devil  was  the  cause  of  all  that  was 
noxious  and  evil.  Luther  came  from  a  cottage  in  which 
there  was  still  felt,  as  in  the  ancient  times,  the  awful 
presence  of  the  spirits  of  the  pine  forests  and  the  sombre 
cleft  of  the  earth  which  was  held  to  give  access  to  the  veins 
of  metal  in  the  mountains.  Surely  the  imagination  of  the 
boy  was  often  engaged  with  obscure  traditions  of  ancien. 
heathen  beliefs.  He  was  accustomed  to  feel  supernatural 
powers  in  the  terrors  of  nature  as  in  the  lives  of  men. 
When  he  turned  monk  these  recollections  of  childhood 
darkened  into  the  Biblical  idea  of  the  Devil,  but  the  busy 
tempter  who  lurked  everywhere  in  the  life  of  man  always 
retained,  in  Luther's  belief,  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  the 
spirits  of  ancient  Teutonic  heathendom. 

In  Luther's  Table  Talks,  which  were  taken  down  by 
his  companions,  the  Devil  causes  the  dangerous  storms, 
while  an  angel  produces  the  pleasant  winds,  even  as  in 
ancient  Teutonic  belief  a  giant  eagle  sat  at  the  boundary 
of  the  world  and  caused  the  winds  by  flapping  his  wings. 
Or,  he  sits  under  a  bridge  in  the  form  of  a  nixie  and 
draws  girls  into  the  water  whom  he  forces  into  marriage. 


114  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

He  serves  in  the  convent  as  a  domestic  sprite,  blows  the 
fire  into  a  blaze  as  a  goblin,  as  a  dwarf  lie  puts  his  change- 
lings into  the  cradles  of  men,  as  a  nightmare  he  misleads 
the  sleepers  to  climb  the  roof,  and  as  a  noisy  hobgoblin 
tumbles  things  around  in  the  rooms.  By  this  last  thing 
he  particularly  disturbed  Luther  several  times. 

The  ink  spot  in  the  Wartburg  is  not  sufficiently  au- 
thenticated, but  Luther  did  tell  of  a  disagreeable  noise 
which  Satan  made  at  that  place  by  night  with  a  bag  of 
hazel  nuts. 

In  the  monastery  at  Wittenberg,  also,  when  Luther 
studied  in  the  refectory  at  night  the  Devil  kept  up  a  noise 
in  the  church  hall  below  him  until  Luther  packed  up  his 
books  and  went  to  bed.  Afterwards  he  was  vexed  because 
he  did  not  defy  the  "buffoon." 

He  did  not  care  much  about  this  kind  of  deviltry. 
He  called  those  which  manifested  themselves  in  such  a 
way  bad  devils.  He  held  that  there  were  innumerable 
devils.  "  Not  all  of  them  little  devils,  but  there  are  land 
devils  and  devil  princes  who  are  experienced  and  have 
practised  for  a  very  long  time,  over  five  thousand  years, 
and  have  become  most  shrewd  and  cunning."  "We," 
he  said,  "have  the  big  devils,  who  are  doctors  of  divin- 
ity; the  Turks  and  papists  have  bad  and  petty  devils, 
who  are  not  theological  but  juridical  devils."  Ever^'thing 
bad  on  earth,  all  diseases,  came  from  them. 

Luther  had  a  strong  suspicion  that  the  dizziness 
which  troubled  him  for  a  long  time  was  not  natural.  As 
to  fires,  "wherever  a  fire  blazes  up,  there  sits  every  time 
a  little  devil  and  blows  into  the  flame."  Failure  of  crops 
and  war — ' '  and  if  God  had  not  given  us  the  dear  holy 


STRUGGLES  WITH  THE  DEVIL.  115 

angels  for  guardians  and  arquebusiers  wlio  are  drawn  up 
about  us  like  a  bulwark  of  waggons  it  would  soon  be  all 
over  with  us." 

Being  quick  to  picture  characteristic  things  in  detail, 
he  knew  that  the  Devil  was  haughty  and  could  not  bear 
to  be  treated  with  contempt.  He  therefore  often  gave  the 
advice  to  drive  him  off  by  ridicule  and  mocking  questions. 
Satan  was  also  a  mournful  spirit  and  could  not  tolerate 
cheerful  music. 

The  most  terrible  work  of  the  Devil,  according  to 
Luther,  was  that  which  he  did  within  the  human  soul. 
There  he  inspired  not  only  impure  thoughts,  but  also 
doubt,  melancholy,  and  sadness.  All  that  he  uttered  so 
firmly  and  cheerfully  first  weighed  with  fearful  force  on 
Luther's  sensitive  conscience.  At  night,  especially,  when 
he  awoke,  the  Devil  stood  sneering  at  his  couch  and  whis- 
pered terrifying  things  to  him,  and  his  mind  struggled 
for  liberty,  often  in  vain,  for  a  long  time.  And  it  is  re- 
markable how  this  son  of  the  sixteenth  century  proceeded 
in  such  internal  struggles.  Sometimes  a  certain  gesture 
by  which  in  those  days  both  prince  and  peasant  expressed 
sovereign  contempt  helped  where  nothing  else  would  help. 
But  his  rising  good  humor  did  not  always  set  him  free. 
Every  new  research  into  the  Scripture,  every  important 
sermon  on  a  new  subject  threw  him  into  fresh  struggles 
of  conscience.  At  such  times  he  would  become  so  excited 
that  his  mind  was  incapable  of  methodical  thought,  and 
he  would  live  in  fear  for  days  at  a  time.  While  the  ques- 
tion of  monks  and  nuns  occupied  him,  he  found  a  passage 
in  the  Bible  which,  as  he  thought  in  his  excitement,  proved 
him  in  the  wrong.  His  heart  sank  in  his  bosom ;  he  was  al- 


116  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

most  strangled  by  tlie  Devil.  Bugenhagen  happening  to 
visit  him,  Luther  led  him  out  into  the  hallway  and  showed 
him  the  threatening  passage.  And  Bugenhagen,  proba- 
bly himself  infected  by  the  hasty  manner  of  his  friend, 
also  began  to  doubt,  without  suspecting  the  torments 
which  Luther  suffered.  Then,  for  the  first  time,  Luther 
became  frightened.  A  terrible  night  passed.  Next  morn- 
ing Bugenhagen  entered  once  more.  "I  am  very  angry," 
he  said,  "  I  have  just  examined  the  text  carefully,  and  find 
the  passage  has  altogether  a  different  meaning."  "And 
it  is  true,"  Luther  related  later,  ''  it  was  a  ridiculous  ar- 
gument. Yes,  ridiculous  for  him  who  is  in  possession  of 
his  senses  and  not  in  temptation." 

He  often  complained  to  his  friends  of  the  terrors  of 
these  struggles  which  the  Devil  caused  him.  '^  He  never 
was  so  fearful  and  angry  from  the  beginning  as  he  is  now 
at  the  end  of  the  world.  I  feel  him  very  plainly.  He 
sleeps  closer  to  me  than  my  Katie — that  is,  he  gives  mc 
more  unrest  than  she  does  joy." 

Luther  did  not  weary  of  calling  the  Pope  the  Anti- 
christ, and  the  papal  practices  devilish.  But  upon  closer 
examination  there  will  be  discovered,  even  back  of  this 
hatred  of  the  Devil,  that  indelible  piety  in  which  the  loyal 
soul  of  the  man  was  bound  to  the  old  Church.  What  be- 
came scruples  to  him  were  often  only  pious  recollections 
from  the  time  of  his  youth  which  stood  in  violent  opposi- 
tion to  the  changes  he  had  undergone  as  a  man. 


THE  TRAGIC  ELEMENT  IN  LUTHER'S  LIFE. 


NO  MAN  is  transformed  entirely  by  the  great  tliouglits 
and  acts  of  his  later  life  as  a  man.  We  are  not 
made  quite  new  by  new  activity ;  our  inner  life  is  made 
up  of  the  sum  of  all  the  thoughts  and  emotions  that  we 
have  ever  had.  He  who  is  chosen  by  fate  to  create  the 
greatest  new  things  by  destroying  great  things  that  are 
old,  will  destroy  and  ruin,  at  the  same  time,  part  of  his 
own  life.  He  must  violate  duties  to  fulfil  greater  duties. 
The  more  conscientious  he  is,  the  more  deeply  will  he 
feel  in  his  inmost  nature  the  incision  he  has  made  into 
the  order  of  the  world.  That  is  the  secret  pain,  nay,  the 
repentance,  of  every  great  historical  character.  There 
have  been  few  mortals  who  felt  this  pain  so  deeply  as 
Luther.  And  the  great  thing  in  him  is  just  this,  that  he 
was  never  prevented  by  such  pain  from  doing  the  boldest 
acts.  To  us,  however,  this  appears  as  a  tragic  element 
in  his  inner  life. 

And  another  tragic  element,  the  most  fateful  for  him, 
lay  in  the  attitude  which  he  was  compelled  himself  to  oc- 
cupy with  reference  to  his  own  teachings.  He  had  left  to 
his  people  only  the  authority  of  the  Scripture ;  with  fervor 
he   clutched  its  words   as   the   only  safe   anchor  for  the 


118  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

human  race.  Before  him,  the  Pope  and  his  hierarchy  had 
interpreted,  misconstrued,  supplemented  the  words  of 
the  Scripture;  now  he  was  placed  in  a  similar  position. 
Together  with  a  circle  of  dependent  friends,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  assume  the  prerogative  of  rightly  understanding 
the  words  of  the  Scripture  and  applying  them  properly  to 
the  life  of  his  time.  It  was  a  superhuman  task,  and  he 
who  took  it  upon  himself  must  of  necessity  become  the 
victim  of  some  of  the  evils  against  which  he  had  himself 
made  such  a  grand  fight  in  the  Catholic  Church. 

Firmly  linked  and  brazen  was  the  structure  of  his 
mind ;  he  was  created  a  ruler  if  ever  mortal  man  was,  but 
the  very  gigantic  and  demon-like  quality  of  his  will  must 
at  times  make  him  a  tyrant.  If,  nevertheless,  on  several 
important  occasions,  he  practised  toleration,  either  b3 
self-restraint  or  with  inward  freedom,  it  was  but  the  happy 
influence  of  his  good  nature  that  made  itself  felt.  But 
not  infrequently  he  became  the  pope  of  the  Protestants. 
There  was  no  choice  for  him  or  for  his  people. 

In  recent  times,  he  has  been  blamed  for  having  done 
so  little  to  invite  the  cooperation  of  the  laity  by  a  Presby- 
terian constitution.  Never  was  reproach  more  unjust. 
What  was  possible  in  Switzerland  with  vigorous,  free  com- 
munities of  peasants,  was  entirely  impracticable  in  Ger- 
many. The  citizens  of  the  bigger  cities  alone  possessed 
the  intelligence  and  strength  to  control  the  Protestant 
clergy ;  but  almost  nine-tenths  of  the  evangelical  denom- 
ination consisted  of  down-trodden  farming  people,  who 
were,  as  a  rule,  indifferent  and  obstinate  and  had  become 
savage   since  the  peasant  wars.     The   new  Church  was 


THE  TRAGIC  ELEMENT  IN  LUTHER'S  LIFE.  119 

obliged  to  force  its  discipline  upon  them  as  upon  neglected 
children. 

Whoever  doubts  these  assertions,  may  look  at  the 
reports  of  inspections  and  observe  the  incessant  com- 
plaints of  the  various  reformers  at  the  rudeness  of  their 
poor  congregations. 

But  still  other  things  pressed  upon  the  great  man. 
The  ruler  of  the  souls  of  the  German  people  sat  in  a  lit- 
tle town  among  poor  university  professors  and  students, 
among  feeble  citizens  of  whom  he  often  had  occasion  to 
complain.  He  was  not  spared  the  inconveniences  of  life 
in  a  little  provincial  town,  the  distasteful  disputes  with 
petty  scholars  and  clumsy  neighbors  ;  and  there  was  much 
in  his  nature  that  made  him  particularly  irritable  at  such 
things.  No  man  carries  in  himself  with  impunity  the 
consciousness  of  being  a  preferred  instrument  of  God ;  he 
who  lives  thus  no  longer  fits  into  the  narrow  and  small 
structure  of  civil  society. 

Had  not  Luther  been,  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart, 
modest,  and  in  intercourse  with  others  infinitely  good- 
natured,  he  must  have  seemed  insufferable  to  the  sober 
people  of  common  sense  who  stood  cool  beside  him.  Thus 
it  happened  only  occasionally  that  he  had  a  violent  con- 
flict with  the  citizens,  the  municipal  authorities,  the  legal 
faculty  of  his  university,  the  councilors  of  his  sovereign. 
He  was  not  always  right,  but  he  almost  invariably  car- 
ried his  point  against  them,  for  seldom  did  any  one  dare 
defy  his  ponderous  wrath. 

In  addition,  he  was  a  victim  of  severe  bodily  ail- 
ments. During  the  last  years  of  his  life  their  frequent 
recurrence  had  exhausted  even  his  immense  vitality ;  he 


120  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

felt  it  most  painfully  and  prayed  incessantly  to  his  God 
to  take  him  unto  himself.  He  was  not  yet  an  old  man  in 
years,  but  he  appeared  old  to  himself,  old  and  hoary,  and 
not  at  home  in  a  strange  terrestrial  world.  These  partic- 
ular years,  not  rich  in  great  events,  made  difficult  by  po- 
litical and  municipal  quarrels,  filled  with  bitterness  and 
hours  of  mourning,  should  fill  with  sympathy  all  who  con- 
template the  life  of  the  great  man  without  prejudice.  The 
blaze  of  his  life  had  warmed  his  entire  people,  called  forth 
in  millions  the  beginnings  of  a  higher  human  develop- 
ment, and  the  blessings  remained  to  millions.  He  felt  at 
last  little  else  himself  than  the  torments.  Once  he  had 
hoped  joyfully  to  die  as  a  martyr,  now  he  desired  the  re- 
pose of  the  grave  like  a  persistent,  weary  workman  of 
many  years.     That,  also,  is  a  tragic  fate. 

But  his  greatest  pain  lay  in  the  attitude  which  he 
himself  was  forced  to  take  toward  his  own  doctrine.  He 
had  founded  a  new  church  on  his  pure  gospel,  had  given 
incomparably  greater  worth  to  the  mind  and  conscience  of 
the  people.  About  him  blossomed  a  new  life,  increased 
prosperity,  many  valuable  arts,  painting  and  music,  com- 
fortable enjoyment  of  life,  finer  culture  among  the  citizen 
classes.  And  yet  there  was  something  in  the  air,  weird 
and  boding  destruction.  The  rulers  were  in  fierce  dis- 
cord, foreign  powers  on  the  march  against  the  people,  the 
Bmperor  from  Spain,  the  Pope  from  Rome,  the  Turk  from 
the  Mediterranean;  the  visionaries  and  rioters  powerful, 
the  hierarchy  not  yet  fallen.  His  very  gospel,  had  it  ce- 
mented the  nation  together  for  greater  unity  and  power? 
Greater  was  the  discord  become,  upon  the  worldly  inter- 
ests of  certain  princes  would  the  future  of  his  church  de- 


THE  TRAGIC  ELEMENT  IN  LUTHER'S  LIFE.  121 

pend.  And  lie  knew  even  tlie  best  ones  among  them. 
Something  horrible  was  approaching,  the  Scripture  was 
about  to  be  fulfilled,  the  day  of  doom  was  at  hand.  After 
that,  however,  God  will  build  a  new  world,  more  beauti- 
ful, splendid,  and  pure,  full  of  peace  and  bliss,  a  world  in 
which  there  would  no  more  be  a  devil,  where  every  hu- 
man soul  would  find  more  pleasure  in  the  flowers  and 
fruit  of  the  new  trees  of  heaven  than  the  present  genera- 
tion takes  in  gold  and  silver,  where  the  finest  of  the  arts, 
music,  would  sound  in  tones  much  more  enchanting  than 
the  most  magnificent  song  of  good  chanters  in  this  world. 
There  the  good  would  find  all  their  dear  ones  again  whom 
they  had  lost  here  below. 

The  yearning  of  the  human  heart  for  ideal  purity  of 
existence  grew  ever  more  irresistible  in  him.  If  he  ex- 
pected the  end  of  the  world  it  was  a  faint  recollection  of 
the  people  from  its  remotest  antiquity  still  hanging  in  the 
mental  sky  of  the  new  reformer.  And  yet  it  was,  at  the 
same  time,  a  prophetic  foreboding  of  the  near  future.  It 
was  not  the  end  of  the  world  that  was  preparing,  but  the 
Thirty  Years'  War. 

Thus  Luther  died. 

When  the  hearse  with  Luther's  body  drove  through 
the  Thuringian  lands  all  the  bells  tolled  in  village  and 
city,  and  people  crowded  sobbing  around  his  coffin.  It  was 
a  good  part  of  the  strength  of  the  people  that  was  buried 
with  this  man.  And  Philip  Melanchthon  said  in  the 
church  of  the  castle  at  Wittenberg  over  the  body : 
' '  Every  one  who  understood  him  aright  must  witness 
that  he  was  a  very  kind  man,  in  all  speech  gracious, 
kind,  and   lovable,   and  not  at  all  forward,   stornu^,  self- 


122  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

willed,  or  quarrelsome.  And  yet  there  was  an  earnestness 
and  bravery  in  his  words  and  actions,  as  should  be  in 
such  a  man.  His  heart  was  true  and  free  of  guile.  The 
severity  which  he  used  in  his  writings  against  enemies  of 
the  doctrine  came  not  from  a  quarrelsome  or  spiteful 
mind,  but  from  great  earnestness  and  zeal  for  the  truth. 
He  showed  great  courage  and  manliness  and  was  not 
frightened  by  a  little  rushing  sound.  He  was  not  intimi- 
dated by  threats,  danger,  or  terror.  He  was  also  of  such 
high  and  keen  understanding  that  he  alone  could,  in  con- 
fused, obscure,  and  difficult  disputes,  see  quickly  what  was 
to  be  advised  and  done.  Nor  was  he,  as  some  perhaps 
have  thought,  so  inattentive  as  not  to  have  learned  how  it 
stood  everywhere  about  the  government.  He  knew  right 
well  how  the  government  is  constituted,  and  paid  atten- 
tion with  special  diligence  to  the  minds  and  wishes  of  the 
people  with  whom  he  had  to  do.  But  we  should  keep  this, 
our  dear  father,  in  our  memories  steadily  and  forever  and 
never  leave  him  from  our  hearts." 

Such  was  Luther.  A  titanic  nature,  his  mind  hard 
to  move  and  sharply  limited,  his  will  powerful  and  well 
tempered,  his  morality  pure,  his  heart  full  of  love.  Be- 
cause after  him  no  other  man  arose  strong  enough  to  be 
a  leader  of  the  nation,  the  German  people  lost  their  do- 
minion on  the  earth  for  centuries.  But  the  spiritual  su- 
premacy of  the  German  race  rests  upon  him.  But  Luther's 
influence  is  not  limited  to  the  history  of  his  own  people ; 
he  is  the  central  figure  of  the  age  of  the  Reformation,  and 
his  spirit  is  still  moving  in  the  life  of  all  the  Protestant 
nations. 


A  LETTER  OF  LUTHER  TO  THE  PRINCE 
ELECTOR  OF  SAXONY. 


TO  LET  LUTHER,  in  conclusion,  speak  for  himself, 
there  may  be  subjoined  here  a  letter  to  the  Prince- 
Elector  Frederick  the  Wise,  written  in  those  days  in 
which  Luther  had  his  whole  strength  most  powerfully 
concentrated.  The  prudent  Prince  had  ordered  him  to 
remain  at  the  Wartburg,  as  he  could  not  protect  him  at 
Wittenberg,  for  the  angry  Duke  of  Saxony,  his  cousin, 
would  at  once  insist  upon  executing  the  sentence  against 
the  outlawed  Luther.   Luther  wrote  thus  to  his  sovereign : 

' '  Most  serene  and  august  Prince-Elector,  most  gra- 
cious Lord  : — Your  Princely  Grace's  writing  and  gracious 
warning  reached  me  Friday  evening,  when  I  meant  to 
ride  away  Sunday  morning.  That  your  Princely  Grace 
has  the  very  best  intentions,  requires  neither  proof  nor 
witness  for  me,  for  I  hold  myself  convinced  thereof  as  far 
as  human  knowledge  goes. 

"But  in  my  affair,  most  gracious  lord,  I  answer 
thus:  Your  Princely  Grace  knows,  or,  if  you  do  not 
know,  I  herewith  make  known  to  you,  that  I  have  the 
Gospel,  not  from  men,  but  alone  from  Heaven,  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  so  that  I  could  well  have  praised 


124  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

and  written  myself  a  servant  and  evangelist,  wliicli  I 
mean  to  do  from  this  time  forward.  That  I  offered  my- 
self for  hearing  and  judgment,  however,  was  done  not  be- 
cause I  doubted  the  truth,  but  from  excessive  humility, 
to  win  over  the  others.  I  have  done  enough  for  your 
Princely  Grace  by  having  vacated  my  place  this  year  to 
please  your  Princely  Grace.  For  the  Devil  knows  very 
well  that  I  did  it  through  no  fear.  He  saw  my  heart  well 
when  I  arrived  at  Worms,  for  had  I  known  that  as  many 
devils  were  in  wait  for  me  as  there  are  tiles  on  the  roofs, 
I  should  still  have  leaped  among  them  with  joy. 

"  Now,  Duke  George  is  very  unlike  even  to  a  single 
devil.  And  since  the  Father  of  inscrutable  mercy  has  b3' 
the  Gospel  made  us  joyful  masters  over  all  devils  and 
death  and  has  given  us  the  wealth  of  confidence  that  we 
may  say  to  him,  '  Dearly  beloved  Father,'  your  Princely 
Grace  may  yourself  conjecture  that  it  would  be  the  high- 
est disgrace  to  such  a  Father  if  we  did  not  have  confi- 
dence in  Him  that  we  are  also  masters  of  Duke  George's 
wrath.  As  for  myself,  I  know  well  I  would  ride  right 
into  his  Leipsic — your  Princely  Grace  will  pardon  my 
foolish  speech — though  it  should,  for  nine  days,  rain  only 
Dukes  George,  and  each  one  was  nine  times  as  furious  as 
this  one.  He  thinks  my  Master  Christ  a  man  wattled  to- 
gether of  straw,  which  this  m3^  master  and  myself  may 
well  suffer  for  a  while.  But  I  will  not  conceal  from  your 
Princely  Grace  that  I  have  prayed  and  wept  for  Duke 
George  not  once  but  very  often  that  God  might  enlighten 
him.  I  will  pray  and  weep  once  more,  afterwards  never- 
more. And  I  beg  your  Princely  Grace  will  also  help  and 
have  praj^ers  said  that  we  may  turn  from  him  the  misfor- 


Daoib.     I)a  cr  feyn  q,thtx'i>i  Dcrftellct  fiir  2lbtme 
led?  bcr  ybn  Don  fid?  triyb  onb  er  /u!?.^)  ging 
id?  iDill  "bzn  fjerrn  lobert  allesevt 
Scyn  lob  foil  \'!rf4\f)''  V""  mcyncm  munbe  fcyit, 

HTcYTt  fcclc  foil  fid?  riibmen  bes  f^errn 
bas  bie  erettbcn  borcn  rub  fid?  freiuen. 

preifet  mit  myi'  ben  Rerrn 
Diib  laft  ons  miteynanbcr  fcynen  namcn  crt^oben 

Da  id?  'bzw  Berrn  fudit,  antmortct  cr  myr 

rnb  errcttct  ^n\d->  ans  .^^^'ZlT^.tlSl. 
(allcnt  bas  td?  bctortjt) 

IUeId?e  aupf  ybn  fcben  loerbcn  crlcud?t 

rnb  yt^r  angefid?t  nnrb  nid^t  5U  fd?anbcn 


LUTHER'S  HANDWRITING. 


A  LETTER  OF  LUTHER'S.  125 

tune  wliicli,  O  Lord  God  I  is  moving  upon  liim  without 
intermission.  I  might  strangle  Duke  George  quickly 
with  a  word  if  that  would  end  the  matter. 

*  *  This  is  written  to  your  Princely  Grace  in  the 
thought  that  you  know  that  I  am  coming  to  Wittenberg 
under  much  higher  protection  than  that  of  the  Prince- 
Elector.  Nor  is  it  in  my  mind  to  require  protection  from 
your  Princely  Grace.  Nay,  I  deem  I  could  protect  your 
Princely  Grace  more  than  you  could  protect  me.  Even  if 
I  knew  your  Princely  Grace  could  and  would  protect  me 
I  should  not  come ;  in  this  matter  no  sword  can  either 
counsel  or  help ;  God  must  here  work  alone  without  any 
human  assistance.  Hence,  he  who  believes  best  will  here 
protect  best. 

"Since,  then,  I  feel  that  your  Princely  Grace  is  still 
very  weak  in  the  faith,  I  can  nowise  regard  your  Princely 
Grace  as  the  man  who  could  protect  or  save  me. 

'  *  Since  your  Princely  Grace  desires  to  know  what  to 
do  in  this  matter,  particularly  as  you  think  you  have  done 
far  too  little,  I  answer  most  humbly  your  Princely  Grace 
has  already  done  entirely  too  much  and  ought  to  do  noth- 
ing. For  God  will  not  and  cannot  suffer  your  care  and 
action  or  mine.  He  wants  it  left  to  Himself  and  none 
other.  Your  Princely  Grace  may  govern  yourself  accord- 
ingly. 

' '  If  your  Princely  Grace  believe  this  you  will  be  se- 
cure and  have  peace;  if  you  do  not  believe,  still  I  believe 
and  must  allow  the  lack  of  faith  of  your  Princely  Grace  to 
torment  itself  with  that  care  which  all  who  lack  faith 
justly  suffer.  Since,  then,  I  will  not  follow  your  Princely 
Grace,  you  will  be  excused  before  God  should  I  be  cap- 


126  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

tured  or  killed.  Before  men,  your  Princely  Grace  should 
conduct  yourself  in  this  wise.  As  a  prince-elector,  you 
should  be  obedient  to  authority  and  allow  imperial 
majesty  to  do  in  your  cities  and  lands  in  regard  to  life 
and  property  as  is  proper  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
empire,  and  must  not  defend  yourself  or  resist,  nor  seek 
opposition  or  any  obstacle  against  that  power  should  it 
want  to  take  or  kill  me.  For  no  one  shall  break  that 
power  but  He  alone  that  instituted  it,  otherwise  it  is  re- 
bellious and  is  against  God.  I  hope,  however,  they  will 
use  reason  and  understand  that  your  Princely  Grace  was 
bom  in  too  lofty  a  cradle  to  become  my  jailor.  If  your 
Princely  Grace  leave  the  gate  open  and  observe  the  safe- 
conduct  of  the  Prince-Klector,  if  the  enemies  themselves 
come  to  fetch  me,  or  their  emissaries,  your  Princely  Grace 
will  have  done  enough  to  satisfy  obedience.  They  can- 
not require  more  of  your  Princely  Grace  than  that  they 
want  to  learn  of  the  whereabouts  of  Luther  from  your 
Princely  Grace.  And  that  they  shall  have  without  care, 
.labor,  or  danger  to  your  Princely  Grace.  For  Christ  did 
not  teach  me  to  be  a  Christian  to  the  injury  of  another. 
Should  they  be  so  unreasonable,  however,  as  to  order  that 
your  Princely  Grace  yourself  lay  hands  on  me,  I  shall 
then  tell  you  what  is  to  be  done.  I  will  secure  your 
Princely  Grace  from  injury  and  danger  of  body,  goods, 
and  soul  in  my  cause,  whether  your  Princely  Grace  be- 
lieve this  or  not. 

'  *  So  I  commend  your  Princely  Grace  to  the  mercy  of 
God ;  we  will  discuss  further  measures  when  it  becomes 
necessary.  For  I  have  made  this  writing  ready  hurriedly 
that  your  Princely  Grace  may  not  be  seized  with  sadness 


A  LETTER  OF  LUTHER'S.  127 

at  tlie  rumor  of  my  arrival,  for  I  must  and  shall  become  a 
solace  to  all  and  not  an  injury  if  I  would  be  a  true  Chris- 
tian. He  is  another  than  Duke  George  with  Whom  I  am 
treating ;  He  knows  me  quite  well  and  I  know  Him  not 
ill.  If  your  Princely  Grace  had  faith  you  would  see  the 
glory  of  God.  But  because  you  do  not  yet  believe,  you 
have  not  yet  seen  anything.  God  be  loved  and  praised 
forevermore.     Amen. 

''Given  at  Borna,  in  presence  of  the  guide  on  Ash 
Wednesday,  A.  D.  1522. 

*'  Your  Princely  Grace's  humble  servant, 

"  Martin  IvUTHER." 


INDEX. 


Age  of  the  Reformation,  122. 

Amsdorf,  Nicolaus,  47,  82,  97. 

Anabaptists,  103. 

Answer  to  the  Diet,  53. 

Astrological    interpretations,    Melanch- 

thon's,  106. 
Augsburg,  Confession  of,  102. 

Bible,  the,  83,  109. 
Blaurer,  Ambrosius,  62,  68. 
Bora.     See  Catharine. 
Brotherhoods,  pious,  9. 
Brunswick,  Henry  of,  44. 
Burned  the  papal  bull,  45. 

Cajetanus,  33,  34,  38. 

Catharine  of  Bora,  88,  97,  99,  105,  108, 

109. 
Catharinus,  Ambrosius,  46. 
Catholic  Church,  Reformer  of  the,  i. 
Charles,  Emperor,  106. 
Chase,  73. 
Chorister,  7. 
Coburg,  103. 
Cochlaeus,  43. 

Confession  of  Augsburg,  loa. 
Cotta,  Frau,  7. 
Cranach,- Lucas,  46,  97,  108. 

Devil,  the,  113,  124. 
Diet  of  Worms,  48,  50. 
Dietrich,  Veit,  7. 

Eck,  34,  37,  41,  43,  85. 
Emser,  Jerome,  38,  43,  46. 
Erasmus,  29. 
Estate,  Luther's,  108. 


Father,  Luther's,  5,  96. 

Florentina,  89. 

Frederick  the  Wise,  Prince- Elector,  ro, 

29,  46,  48,  58. 
Frundsberg,  50. 

George,  Duke,  of  Saxony,  72,  127 
Glapio,  47. 

Hampden,  2. 

Hans  Luther,  5,  6,  98,  iii. 

Hapsburger,  58. 

Henry  VIH.,  43. 

Hesse,  Landgrave  of,  95. 

Huss,   II,  47. 

Hutton,  61,  79,  80,  gi. 

Indulgences,  11. 
Ink  Spot,  1 14. 

Jonas,  Jodocus,  82. 

Karlstadt,  86. 
Kessler,  Johannes,  74. 

Landgrave  of  Hesse,  95. 

Leo  X.,  letter  to,  35. 

Letter,  to  Leo  X.,  35  ;  to  the  Pope,  36, 

37  ;  to  the  Prince-Elector  of  Saxony, 

123. 
Letters,  Luther's,  to  his  little  son,  103. 

Magdalen,    107. 
Mary,  the  Virgin,  no. 
Mayence,  Archbishop  of,  98. 
Mecum,    Frederick    (Myconius),    13   et 
seq. ,  24. 


130 


MARTIN  LUTHER. 


Melanchthon,  Philip,  7,  27,  31,  33,  71, 
72,  76,  82,  86,  88,  102,  105,  121  ;  his 
astrological  interpretations,  io6. 

Miltitz,  33,  34,  37,  39. 

Murner,  43. 

Myconius,  Frederick  (Mecum),  13  et 
seq.,  24. 

Nimbschen,  88. 

Papal  bull,  burned,  45. 
Pappenheim,  Ulrich  von,  50,  51. 
Pardons,  11. 
Paterfamilias,  103. 
Paul,  Apostle,  no. 
Periods,  three,  3. 
Pope,  letter  to  the,   36,  37. 
Prayers,  in,  112 

Professor,  at  Wittenberg,  28  ;  of  theol- 
ogy, 30. 

Reformation,  Age  of  the,  122. 
Reichenbach,  Mayor,  97. 
Reuchlin,  29. 
Richard  of  Treves,  6g. 
Rufus,  Mutianus,  29. 


Satan,  73. 

School  education,  lor. 

Schurf,  Augustin,  76,  82. 

Schurf,  Jerome,  76,  81,  82. 

Sickingen,  47. 

Spalatin,  29,  35,  38,  47,  72,  87. 

Staupitz,  25,  30,  35,  88. 

Sturm,  Caspar,  47. 

Swiss  students,  76. 

Tauler,  26. 

Tetzel,  12,  14,  15,  18,  34,  61,  91. 

Theses,  30. 

Tripartite  careers,  3. 

Turks,  the,  114. 

Virgin  Mary,  the,  no. 

Wartburg,  71. 
Wittenberg,  37. 
Wittenberg  professor,  28. 
Worms,  Diet  of,  48,  50. 

Zeschaus,  88. 
Zwingli,  86,  103. 


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